Redeem Us In Our Solemn Hour
by Genma no Ou
Summary: After the events of Yliaster and Paradox's siege on Neo Domino City, the Three Legendary Duellists are forced to fight Paradox, one of the most powerful foes they've ever encountered.  5DX. Rated M for Language
1. The Showdown Begins

**Disclaimer**: The following piece is in no way a claim to ownership of the depicted characters. Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh R, Yu-Gi-Oh GX and Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's are owned by TV Tokyo, Konami Corporation and Kazuki Takahashi. The song with which this story shares its name is the property of Dutch Metal Band 'Within Temptation'; the name is used here solely for the poetic nature of such a reference. This story as presented is strictly for entertainment purposes, both for its owner and readers.

**Author's Note:** At last, my Continuity's counterpart to the Tenth Anniversary movie has been created, and it promises to deliver yet another instalment of my ever-twisting story. This will not be the last of my works, but it shall resolve the Paradox story arc once and for all, and give a satisfying duel to those disappointed by that of the movie. Now, without further delay, let the madness begin:

**Chapter 1 – The Showdown Begins! ****Triple Duel, ****Chosen****Duellists**** vs. ****Paradox**

Standing above a building cloaked in darkness and surrounded by rubble, Paradox looked down upon the beings within through a pair of shining golden eyes, his glare soul-piercing and judgmental. Before him stood nothing more than the ruins of a city, rocks and concrete alike a bleached red from the chemicals and the harsh sunlight above. In a barren and desolate wasteland such as this one, he had once thought, no hope existed for life ever again.

Until, that is, he had seen the three Legendary Duellists. Through his trials in their own time, he had led them straight to him, leaving them clues along the way for them to follow. Like Hansel and Gretel after the bread crumbs they had followed him, never stopping to consider what they were doing; and now, they had taken his bait, and were his unwitting pawns in the abyss below…

The first of many targets for him produced itself. Wandering lost and confused in the ruins around him, Judai staggered, clutching his ribs with his left arm while his ripped and tattered riding suit clung limply to his body. Blood trickled from the former of his mouth, a long scratch traced down his left cheek past his bruised eye, and his hair was a mess, matted and tangled from the grime and blood from his wounds.

From his own vantage point, the iron-red smog of this world obscured Paradox from his view; but in front of him, everything was a clear and terrifying illustration of the grim future held for man. The streets around him were cracked, crumbling and desolate; the buildings likewise had lost all glass from their windows, leaving frames while their forms crumbled; and remnants of the artistic and breath-taking architecture stood in their own rubble, shadows of their former selves and landmarks of the chaos.

Judai's eyes and mouth went wide as he realized where he was. It was a place where he had gone to before, on his travels many years prior. What he had seen in those days was breathtaking and marvellous, a true creation of grandeur; what he glimpsed through the toxic and choking air now seemed something from a horror or science fiction film, proof of a central cataclysm. But it was all too real, and the shock of it all shook him to his core.

"Saint Mark's Square…" he whispered under his breath, having had such a trauma forced upon him that he found not the strength to speak aloud. When Riding Duels had been invented, he had been in Italy, and had seen the rise of three true greats in the sport; to think of their fates in this gruesome, tragic post-apocalypse was a thought that forced him down upon his knees, exhaustion and injury finally taking their toll.

"Do you understand now the extent of my pain, mortal?" Paradox's voice boomed from overhead, causing Judai to turn in the direction it had come from. Looking over his shoulder, he finally faintly beheld the glow of Paradox's eyes, piercing the fog like headlights. "This is everything that I've lost, everything this world has lost. Become part of this tragic tale, and let your blood seep into this scorched stone ground."

Out from the black fog, two large black burst of light occurred, forming pillars of sparking every that twisted into snaking, snarling forms. Wrapping around a building, the silhouettes of two large dragons materialized, one imbued with three heads and the other with smaller wings at its waist; through the fog, their pattern-like eyes glowed as well, fixing on Judai while their growls resounded.

"You…" Judai barely managed to spit out before the three-headed beast released three streams of black, electrical energy from its jaws, sending them straight towards Judai in a massive shower of force. Calling upon what little strength he had, Judai managed to jump out of the way to his right while the blast struck the ground, punching a hole down to the follow underground below.

While Judai stood loosely on his feet, the dark orange glow he had used many times before appeared around him, clinging to his form except for two flame-like patches at his shoulders and one over his head. As his eyes changed to those of Yubel's, the aura solidified into her ghostly form, surrounding his as a shield and mimicking his pose exactly.

"_You certainly know how to put yourself into as much danger as possible,"_ she mused critically, her unforgiving tone indicative of the hatred she felt know both for him and for Paradox – the latter for the assault, and the former for his recklessness in getting himself brought here.

"I don't have time for your backtalk right now, Yubel," Judai told her while the other dragon fired a burst of blackened, rainbow-shimmering energy at him as well. Grabbing the top of his Deck, he produced a card and yelled, "Go, Neos!" At once the white warrior figure took shape before its master, standing in a crouched position as the blast of the dragon struck it square on.

"Bothersome little rat," Paradox grumbled as the energy from the blast simply reflected, leaving Judai standing unharmed behind his monster. Both of Paradox's dragons then fired their respective bursts of energy at him; but once again, Judai's monster took on both bursts and came out standing, virtually no damage to it.

"You'll have to do better than that," Judai told Paradox smugly, though the raspiness and exhaustion of his voice betrayed him. Looking down upon the human figure, Paradox let out a growl of utter annoyance at the situation; but a second later, he simply chuckled and looked back down.

"Then in that case, I have just the thing." A second later, a third burst of light appeared and another monster appeared between the other two, above Paradox's eyes. This one was a different type of dragon; it had long arms and legs, even longer tail and neck, massive fan-like wings, and three horns atop its head. Through the darkness, its glowing eyes gave off the evil golden glow; but even so, Judai recognized the image and gasped in horror.

"No… it can't be. You…" These were the best of a thought Judai could produce before the burst of energy from the dragon's jaws struck his monster head on. The shockwave from the assault struck it dead-on and passed over it, producing cracks along its form before striking its master as well. Despite Yubel's power, Judai found himself flung backwards and into a crumbling stone building's wall, which gave way behind him and sent him hurtling to the floor.

While Paradox looked on at this sight, laughing darkly, he watched as the form of the white warrior simply cracked over its entire extremities. Pieces of the monster began to slough off and dissolve before the entire thing simply crumbled, leaving nothing in its wake. Yubel's aura likewise died out from around Judai; and as he lay there gasping for air, he felt himself sink into a blackness he knew all-too-well…

Those that remained of the groups of heroes simply looked around blankly, casting their eyes upon the ruined remains of their once-prosperous city. Neo Domino City resembled a mere shadow of its former self. The aftermath of the duel on the Circuit had left many of the windows shattered, broken glass littering the streets. Cracks and crevices adorned the concrete structures while holes and melted joints covered the steel ones; and many of the roads bore scorch marks where the energy had left its mark.

The Satellite had faired no better, for it too fell into the path of the chaos. After so much hard work had been put into its restoration in the aftermath the Dark Signer invasion, much of the new structure bore the same damage and decay as its counterpart; but now, the buildings which had not been restored yet, sadly enough, were almost in better shape than those that had been fixed.

At ground zero of the Old Momentum's newest eruption, buildings had been completely levelled; and the tall tower as well, which had been as grand as Neo Domino skyscrapers, was now scattered debris from Paradox's pulse. In its released state, the Old Momentum and the Final Momentum has created an effect no different from an antimatter explosion; except in this case, instead of annihilation, time itself had been shredded.

Perhaps the most disturbing thing about the chaotic scene, however, was not in the cities itself, but in the skies above them. Though the pathways which spiralled around it had dissolved away into nothingness, the floating body of the large Momentum body still remained, floating and inanimate above both cities. Kilometres of air space separated it from the buildings below; but in the dimly-lit sky, the shadows of the monolith seem to eclipse the ground.

Upon the surface of the huge monolith, three sudden small bursts of energy marked the appearance on its surface of Lucciano, Alessandro and Jose, one after the other. Cloaked and shadowed, their forms were almost hidden save for the glows emanating from their respective Infinity patches – blue for Lucciano, Orange for Jose and Purple for Alessandro.

Pulling back their hoods, the three of them took a long, thorough look at their new surroundings; for with the US Military occupying their central headquarters, they could not return without starting a war, and so this would have to act as their new base of operations.

"Our first order of business is to find Placido's remains," Jose instructed, assuming that even after the catastrophic explosion there would be something left of their comrade's body. "I doubt that our God would have left its strongest servant to die here, even if the battle would have caused him damage that rendered him beyond repair."

"What makes you think so, El Jefe?" Alessandro questioned, turning to his superior with a stern and solemn face marking his own personal view of the loss. "Even if he was using El Capitan as his own personal play-thing, Ylaidus has no reason to keep things that are beyond use to him. After that match, I'd say Placido is in no shape to be of any use."

"Whether or not that is true," Jose responded, speaking more sternly to exercise his authority over the human, "the fact remains that Placido is an integral part of the plan, and must be salvaged in order to complete it."

"Wake up, Jose!" the human suddenly snapped, indicating their surroundings. "The plan has already gone to shit because of those fucking Signers and that bastard Yuki Judai! Just look around you. The Arc Cradle may have been summoned, but it's been left powerless because of Paradox's blast. What good does that do us now?"

Stepping forward to Alessandro, the massive android grabbed him by the neck and hoisted him up above his head, causing the human to grab hold of Jose's arm with his own hand. "If you wish to speak back to your superiors, then I will personally see you removed from Yliaster and left for the Arcadia Movement to experiment on, Alessandro. Understood?"

"Whatever," the man sassed before Jose simply threw him back and onto his butt against the ground, where he simply stood up and dusted himself off. Turning face, Alessandro started to walk down the length of the huge structure, lost in his own head as he reflected on the events that had led him to this point.

"_God damn it El Capitan… why did I have to let you drag me into his huge fucking shit-storm you've cooked up? So, what…? Your plan was to summon the Arc Cradle, the very palace of your master God Ylaidus, and then what…? Simply destroy the world around you until all that remained was a remnants of eras. Then what? What good does a barren wasteland do anybody?"_

Suddenly, Alessandro's eyes roused him from his thoughts with the sign of something he never thought he'd see here. Gasping in shock, he witnessed before him the smashed, pulverized and utterly destroyed remains of what had once been Placido, his face twisted into an expression of horror. With his arms broken into pieces, his face missing on its left side, and nothing remaining below his waist but a few broken fragments and wires, he appeared to be beyond repair; but if anybody would fix him now, they could.

"Yo, El Jefe, La Chica!" Alessandro then yelled back over his shoulder as loudly as he could, trying to draw attention to his current location. Within a few seconds the forms of the two other Emperors of Yliaster were behind him; and he could tell from the sound of Lucciano's stunned gasp and Jose's low, concerned mutter that they shared the same opinion he did of their leader's condition.

"P…Placido…" the female android managed to say in her sorrowful voice, her face depicting the tragic heartbreak of one whose soul mate has died in their arms. As Alessandro reached forward and picked up the corpse of the android, he could sense no energy radiating from it; and with a slow, saddened shake of his head, he gave all the information the female needed to know in a single act.

Yusei felt as though the world had come crashing down in his body. Pain from the aftermath of the duel with Placido filled his being; but that was nothing compared to the pain of what he now saw before him. He and Yugi now stood beside Judai, for the latter had crashed through the building where they now stood.

"Judai, are you alright?" Yugi asked of the red-haired duellist, whose eyes had snapped shut from the pain. Having seen the direction the energy had come from, Yusei and he jumped out through the hole in the wall, only to see the same blinding fog Judai had. However, this time, they knew Paradox was here, armed, and looking for a shot.

"If you wish to suffer the same fate as your friend did," Paradox's chilling voice told them, "then allow me to send you to where he is now." From above him, the long-winged dragon again fired its burst of black energy at him; but this time, Yusei prepared himself by pulling out a card and holding it up.

"Reverberate, Stardust Dragon!" Rising up into the air, Yusei's dragon emerged from the card he had held up and let out its own white burst, connecting with the previous attack and negating both in a massive explosion of power. "Go, Stardust!" In a move too fast for Paradox to react to, the white dragon fired a second shot of energy, striking exactly where Paradox had been dead-on and blasting the building it was on to bits.

Immediately after this, the three silhouetted monsters faded away as well; and with the white dragon disappearing again, this left the three duellists alone to regroup. Judai, drawing upon Yubel's power again, snapped his eyes back open and stood back up, staggering outside to rejoin his two counterparts. Reaching for his outfit, Judai unzipped the jacket of his riding outfit, cooling him off.

Suddenly, the gaseous metals around them were caught up into a huge wind, blowing around in a chaotic fashion until they were eventually swept away. As though sent away by unknown forces, this action left the three with a clear view of the ruins of Venice; and the terrifying image they created soon changed they wish to one of blissful ignorance.

More chaos then arose when the ground beneath their feet began to shake, which also churned up water underneath the streets and created a splashing to the surface. Buildings then began to crumble into pieces, the huge chunks from their form falling into dust in the form of a huge, circular field.

Rocks at the feet of the three duellists then twisted in another way; arising, pushing up the dirt and rising into the air. Very soon they were well over 100 feet in the air, on a rocky mesa which had just sprung from the ground; but the strangest of them all, was that it twisted into a unique and crafted shape.

"This is the platform from the Battle City finals," Yugi realized, having seen these exact details on the Alcatraz duel tower before. Indeed, its shape was nearly an identical match to that structure, save for the material and colour; but now, instead of facing Malik's evil head-on, he was with two other strong duellists against a man he barely knew anything about.

"I'd tell you all to worry about catching the virus," Paradox's voice issued seemingly from everywhere, "but it died out long ago after all of its hosts did." Suddenly, a strange, crimson and black puddle formed along the ground directly in front of the three duellists, spurting upwards like a geyser until Paradox's form erupted upwards from it and took a stance.

Even with his head dipped down and buried in shadow, the three friends could see that his form had changed. The black upper section of his trench coat had changed; now it matched the red and black, seemingly fluid-like pattern, the puffed shoulders being completely covered over by the metal shoulder pads. Paradox's hair bad grown dull and almost lifeless; his skin a strange, dead-looking tan like Rudger's skin had been; and his previously solid form was now slightly thinner.

"Now do you see the full extent of our pain?" he asked, his voice sounding utterly miserable but a sickening smile on his face. "This is all that remains of a once-thriving metropolis. Ravaged by nuclear war and the virus, almost all life is long gone; and the buildings are rubble in their own footprints."

"Paradox, the time has come for you to answer us!" Yugi shouted, his steely glare coming down fully upon the blond duellist before them. "After everything you did to us and our friends in our time, and these horrors you have perpetuated, you continue to keep us in the dark and play with us like dolls!"

"Because humans like you miserable three are little more than toys to me," Paradox explained coldly, his crimson coat now swaying back and forth in the intense winds that arose seemingly from nowhere. Lifting his face to the three, he revealed to them an expression more sinister and dark than anything he had shown them before; his blank eyes, devoid of pupils and any sort of light (or life), showed them the true turmoil of his character.

"None of you are here simply because I will it so," he added, the darkness rolling off his body starting to surround the set of them in a swirling, circular pattern. "In each of your respective generations, you alone stood as heroes in a world teeming with endless chaos, a single light in that abysmal darkness. I, too, tried everything I could to save my family and my people; but it was to no avail, unlike you all."

"Get to the point," Judai demanded. "From the state of this place, I can tell that you were not lying about the catastrophe that occurred here; but that has nothing to do with us. You left our time behind and then dragged us with you; what did that accomplish?"

"It brought you all here," Paradox revealed, getting an appropriately shocked reaction out of them. "The only thing I needed to accomplish in your time was to find a way to bring you all here. Mutou Yugi, Yuki Judai, Fudo Yusei… you're all but means to an end; but an expensive means. By bringing you to my time, I now have everything I need to complete my ultimate project."

"That's why you harmed all of our friends, converted monsters into your twisted servants and exterminated Placido?" Yusei questioned, his hatred starting to boil over. "How exactly does that make you any better than the humans you claim to be so horrid?"

"Because I will save this place," Paradox told them. "With the energy I acquire from you three, I will complete the transmutation necessary to completely rebuild this world, vibrant and teeming with life. Minus, of course, human life… but I suppose the planet can recover from such a loss. After all, without human life, the virus would never have occurred."

"There's no point in further arguing philosophy with this guy," Judai finally decided. "There's only one way remaining to settle this." Reaching around to his belt, he pulled his Deck from the box he kept there and loaded it into the Duel Disc on his left arm. "If we win, you'll take us back to our own time and abandon this little project; or at least the part that involves sacrificing us."

"And what do I stand to gain from this?" Paradox questioned, his sneer now highlighting his amusement. "Wait, I know… should I win, I'll suck you three dry of your energy. Doing so may or may not result in your death; but a deal is a deal, am I right…?"

"We won't be bullied into backing down, Paradox!" Yusei snapped, reaching around for his own Ground Deck and loading it into the port of his Duel Disc. Again both stood silent; but as Yugi reached for his own Deck and placed it in the Duel Disc, the resonation of a voice caught everyone's attention.

"Yugi-sama..." the familiar voice issued as its owner, Maenou, came into view behind him in spirit form. "There can be no expense spared in defeating this cruel, vindictive man. Allow me to help you by giving you more power." Maenou's speech patterns had changed from before; when talking to Yugi, he was completely formal and polite, with a soft tone to reflect his respect.

"More… power…?" Yugi asked in confusion, not knowing what Maenou was referring to. Maenou then pointed to a section of Yugi's Deck box which was isolated from the rest by a divider; upon realizing this, Yugi turned to the being in shock, his face showing his bewilderment.

"I was a servant of Pharaoh Atem, your other half, in the Ancient Times," he explained. "I can clear the Summoning Conditions for his strongest servants for you, and let you use them against him; but you must let me do so if we want to win."

"A servant of… the other me…?" Yugi now questioned, looking down at the Deck box. The implications were now as strong as they could be for Yugi; he now had the chance to fight with the full power of his old spirit partner. Though he had enjoyed duelling since that ceremony, it was never the same without his partner; now, he had a way to feel that thrill again. "Yes," Yugi told him. "Yes; I would enjoy having you fight me with."

Nodding in response and bowing, Maenou's spirit form dissolved away; and a second later, a bean of golden energy shot out from Judai's Duel Disc, solidifying in front of Yugi's chest. The object materialized just long enough to reveal its form as that of Maenou's card; but after that, it returned to its energy form and changed into the familiar, pyramidal shape of the Millennium Puzzle.

Looking down upon the object around his neck, complete with the chain he had put on it so long ago, Yugi smiled; he now had a way to fight like his old self had. Reaching for the Deck box, he grabbed the three cards that remained and thrust them into the Deck, creating a surge of red, blue and yellow energy in a flame-like pattern. When this came to rest, the blades of the Duel Disc deployed, swinging around and taking their place along the side of the Disc.

"I'll not allow you to simply continue toying with human lives," Yugi told the blond duellist firmly, raising his fist for emphasis. Immediately after that, Judai's eyes changed into the form of Yubel's orange and green eyes, glowing while his own Duel Disc deployed into shape.

"For the actions which you have carried out upon our friends, I'll not forgive you," he said, Yubel's voice joining him while her spirit form appeared behind him, arms crossed. "I'll definitely defeat you and undo your chaos!"

Immediately Yusei's Duel Disc also activated the holographics displaying as he did so. After that his red Dragon's Head mark burst into a brilliant red glow, signifying the activation of his power. "I'll not allow you to simply change our future at will any longer!"

"Well then, I suppose it's only fair that I show my hand now," Paradox responded, snapping his singers. Immediately the form of his white and black D-Wheel appeared from a warp in the dimension, seemingly created on its own; and it pulled up beside Paradox, allowing him to stand up upon the object.

"Allow me to set the stage," he insisted, the D-Wheel making a strange noise underneath him. Instantly pieces of the D-Wheel began to move and reconfigure; the front wheel turned to fit underneath the front end; the two rear wheels and their mounts moved out to the side, where they became a pair of strange, spear-like objects; and the console and back rest themselves folded upwards, converting into a Duel Platform for Paradox.

Once the object had taken on this form, instead of resting on wheels, it covered a few feet above the ground. Pressing a button on the console, Paradox immediately caused the object to rise up into the air about 80 feet; the screen on the console came to display the faces of the three Duellists in split screen, and a holographic projection of Paradox's face, some 20 feet tall, came into view above the vehicle.

"Shell we begin?" he asked, his hologram echoing the question more loudly as he reached for the console. Inserting his right arm with his wrist dealer onto the bottom of the Duel Disc attachment, he removed it from that place and activated the Duel Disc's Ground Function. Immediately the Deck inside began to shuffle itself; then it spat out five cards, which Paradox took into his grasp.

"As this will be a three-on-one duel, I make this stipulation," Paradox told them. "You will each get one turn, followed by mine. Only I can attack on my first turn, and I receive 12000 Life Points to start instead of the usual 4000. Should one of you lose, your cards remain in play as long as another one of you does, meaning all of us will have access to them."

Looking up at the floating Duellist, each and every one of the three combatants responded with a steely glare and a nod. Paradox seemed to be making the rules fair, but everyone could tell he had an agenda by doing this. Even so, they would be certain to put up a fight that Paradox could not overcome.

"DUEL!" all 4 players then yelled, the three ground-standing players each pulling five-card hands while Paradox simply stared back at them, eagerly awaiting their moves. On Paradox's monitor, the image switched to that of an empty field; namely, the field of the first opponent.

"I'll make the first move!" Yugi insisted, reaching for his Deck as he did so. "Draw!" Once he looked at all 6 of the cards now in his hand, he reached for one in his hand, the card he'd drawn folded against the crease, and he put it into play. "I Summon Magnet Warrior Alpha (ATK: 1400, LV: 4)!"

The tray of Yugi's Duel Disc let off a rainbow shimmer as it read the card; after doing so, it produced the form of a tall and thin, light grey, metallic-looking figure, with U-magnets forming its shoulders and the top of its head. "Next," he issued, sliding the card he had drawn into a slot, "I activate Ties of Brethren. By paying 1000 Life Points, I Special Summon from my Deck: Magnet Warriors Beta (DEF: 1600, LV: 4) and Gamma (DEF: 1800, LV: 4)!"

Two horizontal cards each appeared on either side of the standing warrior, reach producing a metallic-looking figure in a crouching pose. The first one was yellow and had a small, rounded build, with short arms and legs. The other was pink, with wings and an even pudgier build; and both of them bore similar magnet markings to the original monster.

Yugi: LP 3000

Judai: LP 4000

Yusei: LP 4000

Paradox: LP 12000

"Now I send my Magnet Warriors Alpha, Beta and Gamma to the Cemetery," Yugi issued, causing all three figures to break into their individual components while he threw another card onto the tray. "In doing so, I Summon Magnetic Soldier – Magnet Valkyrion (ATK: 3500, LV: 8)!"

With this action completed, Yugi's three monsters assembled their pieces into the form of the tallest, strongest-looking creature yet. With the wings of the third creatures, most of the body (albeit enhanced) of the first monster, and the face of the second, this new monster's form gave it a unique look matched by its power.

"Next, I set 2 cards and end my turn," he issued, creating the form of two set cards behind his existing monster. Having just seen this action, Judai reached for his own Deck; and Paradox's screen created another blank field for him.

"I'll take the next turn," Judai declared as he reached for his Deck. "Draw!" Snapping up the card and flinging his arm all the way out to the side, he caught enough of a glimpse to bring the card back in front of him. "I activate the Magic Card, Emergency Call, and add 1 E-HERO from my Deck to my hand!" Instantly a glowing green 'E' appeared from the card and moved forward; at the same time, a card within Judai's Deck glowed and shot out, in time for him to catch it.

"Come on, Bubbleman (ATK: 800, LV: 4)!" from a cloud of bubbles that appeared on front of Judai, the form of his blue-clad warrior arose, arms crossed and white cape fluttering in the wind. As Judai placed his used Magic Card in the Cemetery, his Deck began to shuffle itself and he added, "I activate Bubbleman's effect, and further draw 2 cards."

Once his Deck had stopped shuffling itself, he reached for the top of it and produced two cards, one of which he spun around instantly. "I activate Double Fusion! I pay 500 Life Points, and I declare 2 Fusion Summons this turn. So first, I fuse Featherman and Burst Lady in my hand into… Elemental Hero Flame Wingman (ATK: 2100, LV: 6)!"

Yugi: LP 3000

Judai: LP 3500

Yusei: LP 4000

Paradox: LP 12000

Taking the Magic Card and placing it into a slot on the tray, Judai then revealed the other of the two cards he drew as well as one from the far left of his hand. Instantly the forms of his green feathered warrior and his red-clad female warrior arose and spiralled together over his head; then, descending down in front of him, the green monster with single wings and dragon's head form right hand emerged, battle-ready.

"Next, I'll combine my new monster, Flame Wingman, with Sparkman from my hand to Summon Elemental Hero… Shining Flare Wingman (ATK: 2500, LV: 8)!" Taking another card from his hand to reveal, Judai summoned up his gold and navy-clad fighter beside the green monster; these two then spiralled together as the last two had, producing the silver-clad, green-skinned monster with bird-like legs, bladed wings and a strange head-like structure on its right arm.

"Shining Flare Wingman's monster effect includes that it gains 300 ATK for every single Elemental Hero Monster in my Cemetery. Due to my Double Fusion Summoning, I now have 4 E-HERO monsters in my Cemetery; therefore, it gains 1200 points (ATK: 3700). How's that Paradox?"

"Good work Judai," Yugi praised, impressed at the skills involved in summoning a monster stronger sill than his own. In response, Judai turned to Yugi long enough to give him a smile and his signature 'gotcha' pose; then, his face turned back to Paradox and he reached into his hand again.

"I set 1 card and end my turn." With the single card down into his slots, he looked at the situation tensely. _"Bubbleman seems an obvious target, given his low points and being in attack position; but should be take the bait, my set card will make short work of his attacking monster."_ "Come, Yusei! Take things up a notch!"

"With pleasure!" Yusei told him, reaching for his own Deck as his Signer mark came into full, brilliant glow. "It's my… TURN!" Snapping up the card from his Deck in a full 180 degree arc, he looked at it for all of half a second before throwing it into the Cemetery. "I send one monster from my hand to the Cemetery, and activate the Magic Card One for One from my hand!"

With the card out of his hand, he placed the single Magic Card into a slot on his field, where it spun itself into existence before him. "Due to this effect, I Special Summon 1 Level 1 Monster from my hand or Deck. Come to me, Salvation Dragon – Saviour Dragon (ATK: 0, LV: 1)!"

The top card of Yusei's Deck then burst into a strong golden glow, from which a bean of light shot up and solidified over his head into the form of the red, teardrop-shaped dragon with bladed wings and large green eyes. "Next, I Summon Debris Dragon (ATK: 1000, LV: 4)!" Slapping the next card of his hand onto the tray, he called up his small white and green dragon with orange orbs on its body and green eyes, which snarled at the man before it.

"Since I successfully Normal Summoned Debris Dragon, I Special Summon 1 Monster with 500 or less ATK from my Cemetery. Come back, Tuning Supporter (ATK: 100, LV: 1)!" As the card slid out from his Cemetery, Yusei grabbed it and slapped it onto the tray, producing his little yellow robot beside his existing dragons.

"Furthermore, I activate the Magic Card, Machine Reproduction Technique, and I Special Summon 2 more Tuning Supporters from my Deck! Come on [(ATK: 100, LV: 1) x2]!" Sliding from his Deck together, Yusei took the two cards and added them to the open spots on the tray, producing an entire field of monsters.

"I activate Tuning Supporter's effect," he added. "When using it as a Synchro Material Monster, I can make it Level 2. Thus, I tune my Level 4 Debris Dragon to 2 of my now Level 2 Tuning Supporters!" Rising up into the air, Yusei's dragon transformed into 4 green rings; the two small robots flew up into these and became two white orbs each, which merged into a column of light.

"The clustering forces will become a new shining star," he chanted as the column burst into white, sparkling matter. "Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon (ATK: 2500, LV: 8)!" Unfurling from the field of debris around it, Yusei's white dragon came down upon the field in its full form, screaming at Paradox and giving Yugi a look of awe.

"I've seen many monsters in my time," he commented, "but I have yet to see one so brilliant as that one."

"You haven't seen anything yet, Yugi-san," Judai told him, the smile of confidence on his face. "If I've read this right, Yusei's about to literally take things to the next level."

"How right you are Judai," Yusei told him. "I further tune my Level 1 Saviour Dragon to my Level 8 Stardust Dragon and Level 1 Tuning Supporter!" As the small red dragon arose into the air, its form became transparent and massive; and as Yusei's other two monsters entered into its body, they became a total of 9 white orbs and centred at a green ring within, causing the body of the dragon to burst into light.

"The shine of the clustering stars will illuminate a new miracle," Yusei then chanted, the dragon's body burst into a vertical column of powder-blue light. "Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Descend down in light, Saviour Star Dragon (ATK: 3800, LV: 10)!" Scattering the light around itself, the gigantic four-winged dragon came into form, its pointed legs and tail overhanging the platform and its wings stretching out over 100 feet in either direction.

"The effect of the Tuning Supporters I used now activates," Yusei pointed out. "When used as a Synchro Material and sent to the Cemetery, they allow me to draw one card. Thus, I now pick up three cards!" Reaching for his Deck, Yusei snapped up the cards and placed them into his hand, reaching for one already there. "I equip Saviour Star with Saviour Force, and prevent it returning to the Extra Deck in the End Phase!"

As the card appeared below the dragon, it released a beam of green energy that became an aura form the dragon, replacing its own light blue glow. "I set three cards and end my turn!" Once Yusei's move had finished, Paradox's screen returned from the respective field views to the faces of the three duellists; and looking at what they had done, he began to chuckle darkly, and his hologram did the same.

"What's so funny?" Yugi questioned, looking up at the image of the blond man's face with his steely gaze. "Either you're insane, or we've missed something severe; because no sane man stares down a field full of monsters over 3000 ATK and laughs. So what exactly is the joke, Paradox?"

"You three are the joke," Paradox told him condescendingly, staring down upon them with his glare of hubris. "After everything I've shown you that I'm capable of, after the damage I inflicted upon Kaiba, Fubuki, Crow, Kyojo and Endymion; after all this, you're so arrogant to believe that throwing a few reasonably-powerful monsters at me will deter me?" As Paradox finished these words, black fog began to form in an aura around his body and pour down onto his vehicle, the over the sides.

"Allow me to show you the punch line," he finally stated, grabbing the top card on his Deck with his left hand. Instantly he snapped up the card and shot his arm forwards, 90 degrees to his body, hand angled down and card positioned with index finger below and middle finger above. Looking at the card, he lifted his card upwards and revealed it, stating in a chilling voice, "I activate the Field Magic, Sin World."

Once he had finished his saying this, a sixth zone on his Duel Disc extended open, revealing a Field Zone. Instantly be placed the card onto this tray, causing the neon rainbow effect on his tray while it closed. A strong wind then kicked up that caused Paradox's hair to shift and his aura to whip around in circles. After that, the aura shot into the two sideways-facing spikes in two tendrils, until nothing remained of it.

Orbs of sparking black energy then formed around the spikes, staying stationary until it released the energy in two long, lightning-like bursts that struck the ground on either side of the platform. Once it did, the forms of two spots of the purple, starry background began to form, expanding and overlapping until it consumed the entire world around them. The field resembled an empty, far-off cosmos, no planets but plenty of stars which stared down upon them.

"This world was forged from the very depths of my cold, barren soul and heart," Paradox stated, bowing his head and reverting to a sombre tone. "After I lost everyone around me, and was reduced to stewing in my own hatred and despair; from that and my power as a Signer, a new ability was born. I was given the tools to succeed where all others had before failed."

"What exactly are you yammering about now?" Judai questioned, his hateful tone contrasting darkly with the tone of Paradox's words.

"Using my power as a Signer, I could make for myself new familiars, new servants whom I could use as a means to an end. These beasts had no ancient forms, and were never the vessels for a God as the Signer Dragons or Earthbound Gods were; rather, they are my own creations, carrying pieces of the sins within my own heart. And this world is the amalgamation of my misery."

Opening his eyes again and staring down upon them, Paradox grabbed a card from his own hand and pulled it out to his far left side, part his body, in the same manner as he had drawn. "Allow me to show you the being derived from Pride. From my Deck, I exclude Blue-Eyes White Dragon, servant of Seto Kaiba…" With this done, more of the black energy arose and took on the form of the white-scaled, bulky, blue-eyed dragon, which growled as more energy surrounded it.

"By doing so, I Special Summon my first servant: Sin Blue-Eyes White Dragon (ATK: 3000, LV: 8)!" Once the blackness surrounded the dragon, it targeted its wings, which changed into grey and black metal ones with a pattern of lines on them; and its face, where a mask formed that covered the entire left side in white and wrapped around the mouth horn, as well as the right side in black save for the right eye.

"Kaiba's favourite monster…" Yugi looked up upon the snarling monster, eyes wide in disbelief. "How can you have… changed it into such a twisted shape as that thing? Is your heart truly so black that even the monster of a great man like him is made into such an abomination?"

Chuckling at Yugi's despair, Paradox ignored the question entirely and told them, "Sin Monsters can only be Special Summoned by excluding the original monster from the Deck or Extra Deck. Normally, I can only control one Sin Monsters, which will prevent my other monsters from attacking and will be destroyed if no Field Magic exists. However, Sin World's effect negates the first two drawbacks, allowing me to control any number of Sins and allowing all of them to attack."

"What?" all three of them asked in shock, each one taking a step back as the face of the man glared down upon them.

"This is the power of darkness in the human heart," Paradox explained. "Kaiba's prideful and vain soul gave an outlet for the first of my sins to be released, and now I shall show you its form." Reaching into his hand for yet another card, he placed a card into one of the slots and issued, I activate the Equip Magic Sin Binding!"

"That's what you think!" Yusei issued, raising his fist as he indicated his monster. "I activate Saviour Star Dragon's effect; and by releasing this monster, I negate your activation and destroy all of your cards!" When his dragon screeched out and went to release its power, Yusei was shocked to see that the dragon took no action; instead, the monster simply remained motionless while the form of a card appeared underneath it.

"Your monster is useless," Paradox told Yusei, addressing his obvious question. "Sin Binding's activation cannot be negated if I control a Sin World; and furthermore, its effect is to prevent the equipped monster from being able to activate its effect. Your Saviour's abilities are now sealed."

"What?" Yusei questioned as the card below his dragon shot up a spiralling beam of energy. This wrapped around the monster, folding its wings against its body as its face, wings and leg armour changed into white, grey and back metal patters resembling those of Paradox's dragon, the beam of energy forming a chain around the dragon.

"With your effect sealed, I set two cards," Paradox told him, taking two of his three cards and slotting them down, "and then I activate my Sin Enchant Equip Magic. Thanks to this card, the Sin Blue-Eyes I control gains 500 ATK for every Magic or Trap Card I control, which is currently 5 (ATK: 5500)!" While all 3 of his opponents stared on in awe, they saw the form of the dragon become covered in a green stripe pattern similar to its mask, the lines on the latter glowing to match.

"Your monster has absolutely no bearing in my presence," Paradox told Yusei, pointing at the beast. "I attack Saviour Star Dragon with Sin Blue-Eyes! Burst Stream of Darkness!" Opening its mouth to a wide angle, Paradox's dragon started to form an orb of black, electricity-like energy, amassing it into a powerful burst before launching the assault towards the chest of the dragon.

"I won't allow this attack through!" Judai yelled. "I activate…!" Judai's line was cut off when sparks of electricity shot off his Duel Disc, preventing him from reaching the triggers for his set card; as a result, the blast from the dragon shot straight through its targets chest, exploding it into a massive burst of energy.

Yugi: LP 3000

Judai: LP 3500

Yusei: LP 2300

Paradox: LP 12000

Yusei, at ground zero for the impact, was struck with a massive shockwave of energy; he covered his face with his arms, shielding his eyes from the massive impact. So much force was exerted that he began to slide backwards along the mesa-like platform; then, he was forced off his feet and backwards all the way, until he lunged out and found himself hanging over the edge by a single hand.

"Yusei!" Judai yelled, running straight towards Yusei at the edge of the platform. Once he reached the edge, he looked down to see Yusei's condition; and when he did, he saw a look that made his blood run cold. On Yusei's face was an expression of extreme terror. Judai had seen how much Placido's powered hampered his spirit, but he had still kept calm; Yusei's current face was one of true horror, shock and fear.

Reaching down, Judai's eyes changed into Yubel's again as he grabbed Yusei by the arm. Using every bit of strength that he had, he managed to pull Yusei back up and over the cliff-like edge, holding him a bit above the floor of the platform. Looking on at this, Paradox again chuckled darkly as he said, "What a good look for Yusei; his indomitable, restless soul is finally quenched."

"You bastard!" Judai yelled, putting Yusei onto his feet and turning to face the aggressor. "What the fuck did you do? Tell me what you did to stop me from acting now!"

"The effect of Sin Binding prevents any card effects from being chained when the equipped monster is targeted, for either an attack or a card effect," Paradox told him, watching as both men staggered back to the places where they had been standing. "With Saviour Star gone, you now see what I have to show you. No Saviour can rescue you from me. Only darkness awaits all 3 of you…"

In the darkness underneath the Old Momentum, Kyojo had heard the sound of a strange, low moaning unlike anything else he had heard before. Even though he had received a huge amount of physical injury in the blast, and though his ears rang enough to unbalance him, he knew that he could hear something or someone down the hallway.

Propping himself up against the wall of the old building site, the man slowly staggered along the length of the wall, moving at a sluggish but constant pace. He could hear the sound somewhat clearer with each step he took, and slowly be began to register what it was; It was the low, shallow breathing of an injured human being.

The man immediately feared the worst when this realization struck him; so pronounced was its impact that he stopped in his tracks, falling forward and into his knees as the shock hit him. He, Yusuriha and Taiyou had been the only three people down here then the blast had gone off. Presumably Taiyou had gone off to check with the others, and Yusiriha had woken up and then collapsed again from strain.

Eventually, Kyojo's will and resolve trumped the pain from his body and he pushed himself up to his feet again, staggering forwards with more passion and more speed this time. After a few more steps be found himself at the edge of the room, following the sound into the dark tunnel that led off from the Old Momentum room.

"_This must be the hallway the Dark Signers used when they called this place a headquarters,"_ Kyojo realized, noticing the markings along the walls from where negative Momentum had previously radiated outwards in a circuit board pattern and scorched the earth, like radiation from Chernobyl poisoning the land. _"At some point in time, this place must have been perfect for them."_

But as Kyojo ventured farther into the tunnel, the vision of something ahead of him came into view; something very strange, and not at all what he had expected to see. At first, he reached for his sunglasses to try and remove them, to see if maybe he was just seeing a fogged-up image; but feeling his face, they were gone. _"Smashed by that explosion, no doubt."_

Then, Kyojo felt a strange sensation at his feet; one of old, moist air, like one feels from dry ice letting off fog and chilling the moisture in the air. Looking down at his feet, he saw a trail of white, fog-like material trailing across his feet from down the tunnel, flowing like plasma. Whatever it was, it was coming from up ahead.

Eventually, Kyojo's proximity to the sound and sight began to close; and when he realized what he was looking at, his heart skipped a beat. Disregarding his own physical state, he picked up and ran all the way down the tunnel, finding himself at the end of it in the middle of an old room, the only fixture in it being a rotten wood table with six burnt-out candles on the table.

What Kyojo saw here made his very blood run cold. The white, flowing material emanated from a purple-clad, human form, breaking off from the body and flowing like blood. The being in question had frayed and uneven edges from how his body had begun to break apart, to the point where his long black hair was changing into the white ectoplasm on its ends.

By now, Kyojo recognized the moans, and knew the figure before him. Sensing his presence at last, the being slowly and painfully turned, a black mask on his face falling away as he did so. Underneath, the man had a left eye which was yellow, with a red iris and a slit-like pupil; but the right side of his face was almost completely gone, an empty void and ectoplasmic edge where his right eye and cheek would be. "Ky…o…jo…" the being said slowly, extending its left arm out to reach him; only for that arm to be eaten through and fall off, the edges where they had been attached breaking down as well.

"No…" Kyojo gasped out, fighting back the tears. "It can't be… Taiyou…"

**Card of the Chapter – Paradox**

**Sin World**

**Field Magic**

**Effect:**

ANIME: Once per turn, during your Draw Phase, activate by skipping your normal draw. Add 1 random "Sin" Monster from your Deck to your hand. The Deck is then shuffled.

CHAPTER: The controller of this card is not limited by the effect of "Sin" Monsters and may control more than one. Also, all "Sin" Monsters you control can declare attacks regardless of each others' effects. Once per turn, during your Draw Phase, activate by skipping your normal draw. Add 1 random "Sin" Monster from your Deck to your hand. The Deck is then shuffled.

*The duel has started, and so has the end. Only time will tell where everything goes from here… Review if you wish.*


	2. Harbinger of Chaos

**Disclaimer**: The following piece is in no way a claim to ownership of the depicted characters. Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh R, Yu-Gi-Oh GX and Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's are owned by TV Tokyo, Konami Corporation and Kazuki Takahashi. The song with which this story shares its name is the property of Dutch Metal Band 'Within Temptation'; the name is used here solely for the poetic nature of such a reference. This story as presented is strictly for entertainment purposes, both for its owner and readers.

**Chapter 2 – Harbinger of Chaos, Sin Dragons vs. Three Legendary Duellists**

Kyojo could barely believe what was now before his eyes. His best friend and partner all these years, Kenshi Taiyou, lay on the ground in the underground hellhole the Dark Signers once called a lair; and his body, once invincible and indestructible, was now dissolving into ectoplasm and coming apart at the seams.

"Buddy… how did this happen to you…?" Kyojo then questioned, his voice little more than a whisper from his shock and pain. Getting down on his knees, he laid Taiyou down across his legs, the man's damage head in his hands; and he let the spirit of his friend's face look up at him, a look of dying indifference in the eye of the Summoner.

"The burst from the Momentum…" Taiyou explained in a hoarse, damage voice, watching as what had once been his left arm completely broke up into ectoplasm and simply floated away. "The radiation has… fused with my form, and is… breaking it apart…" Falling back against Kyojo's knee, he felt the decay eat the end of his right leg off, watching it fall to the ground and decay in the same fashion as his arm.

"We have to do something… to save you…" Kyojo protested, tears now streaming down his face at the sight of his damaged and dying friend. "There has to be… We're the Summoners. We defeated Maenou, helped the Signers return, reformed Yliaster and helped stop Placido… there has to be a way to fix you! There has to be!"

But despite the string words of his friend, Taiyou simply shook his head, a fulfilled smile forming on his face. "No… it's too late for me now, buddy… In a few minutes my body will completely dissolve and my essence will… will simply cease, scattered wherever the fragments of my being go…" Upon seeing the look of terror and sorrow in Kyojo's eyes, the man added, "I've already died once, man… it won't be so bad…"

"No… NO! I won't accept that answer!" Kyojo bellowed while the last of Taiyou's severed leg simply dissolved away, his other limbs now so ragged at their edges that they simply broke apart into wisps of ectoplasm. "I can't let this happen to you! I won't let you die again!" Breaking out into an open sob, Kyojo strained to say his next words. "Taiyou… I can't lose you again… Neither can anybody else…"

"There's nothing… to be afraid of, Kyojo… I'll always… be with you…" Taiyou finally said, closing his eyes and his mouth for good. The remnants of his form finally gave out and his body broke apart, no longer able to hold itself together. What remained of the Summoner, have for his mask, simply reduced to white ectoplasm and flowed away, leaving Kyojo's open hand against air, frozen in the embrace of his now-lost friend.

"Taiyou… TAIYOU!" Kyojo roared out, his rage at having lost his friend now exploding out of him and forcing him to his feet. Screaming with rage, the flame-like marks of the Summoners appeared over his body and the form of his three-headed dragonic servant arose from the ground, roaring and snarling angrily.

"PAAAARAAAAADOOOOXXXX!" the man yelled out in overwhelming rage, his monster reflecting his anger by blasting crimson flames of energy up at the ceiling and walls around him. From sheer intensity the rocks exploded apart and reduced to molten lava, the liquefied rock being flung far and wide as the man metres-deep tunnel suddenly became a chasm-like trench.

"Kyojo! Stop!" The voice of Yusuriha then issued in frustration, jumping up behind him and grabbing hold of him firmly. The Summoner managed to break free and face his attacker quickly; and like him, she too had tears streaming down her face, showing that she had seen all of this happen as well. "We can't… we can't let this destroy us like this."

Finally calming down, Kyojo reverted to a state of heavy panting while the body of his dragon dissolved back away, leaving them standing alone at the bottom of the trench. Out of exhaustion, sorrow and brokenness, Kyojo simply collapsed into Yusuriha's arms, his body now unable to support itself as she held him close, sharing the embrace and mourning the loss of a truly great friend.

"Have you come to understand the nature of the Sin Duel?" Paradox questioned of the three duellists before him, his stern glare being met by their looks of frustration and anger. "Misery and sadness, anger and hatred; those are the only forces that will exist after this duel. You will all be left in ruins, and the world you knew erased; a mere footnote in the history of this world."

Yugi: LP 3000

Judai: LP 3500

Yusei: LP 2300

Paradox: LP 12000

"Sin Blue-Eyes White Dragon (ATK: 5000, LV: 8), the embodiment of pride, shall be the first gateway into Hell for the three of you." After this comment, the eye pattern on the left side of the dragon's mask, as well as its exposed right eye, lit up in a dark golden glow, while the monster itself made a low and terrible growl.

"Even in the brimstone of hell, there will be salvation in the Victim Sanctuary!" Yusei declared, a card sliding from his Cemetery as he grabbed it with his right hand. "The effect of Saviour Force will now activate; since Saviour Star Dragon was removed form the field, I can Special Summon its Synchro Material Synchro Monster from my Cemetery. Be reborn, Stardust Dragon (ATK: 2500, LV: 8)!"

Despite the destruction of the large blue dragon from earlier, the magic card which had been used on it remained just long enough to change into a bright blue column of light. This beam then broke apart into individual particles of light and turned white, before the pieces came back together and solidified the long-winged, white, three-horned dragon returned to Yusei's side, screeching in anger at Paradox.

"Then the effect of my Sin Binding will also activate," Paradox responded, taking the card from his Magic and Trap Zone and inserting it into the Cemetery slot. "When the equipped monster destroys an opponent's monster, I may draw 1 card." Using his empty left hand, Paradox drew the card from the top of his Deck, immediately setting it into the same zone.

"Since a new set card has come into play, Sin Force adds an additional 500 Attack Strength (ATK: 5500). With that, I will end my turn; but for all the good it will do you. There's nothing left to save you." Sneering at Yugi, Paradox watched as his field came back onto his monitor's screen; then, he watched as the original King of Duellists reached for his Deck.

"_I know that Paradox is wrong, and that there exist creature sin my Dec that cam defeat him; but I need them to come to me now. Please, O Deck, answer to my pleas and bring a miracle into my grasp."_ As his hand made contact with the Deck, his eyes closed; and then he felt a sudden rush of energy up his arm, hearing a heartbeat as the card snapped up into his grasp.

"_Master Yugi,"_ Maenou told the duellist, appearing beside him in ghostly form. _"Call upon my power and I will help you in defeating this lunatic."_ Nodding at the man, Yugi placed the card he had drawn into his hand, a look of determination on his face while he reached for a card on his tray.

"I activate the Monster Effect of Magnetic Soldier – Magnet Valkyrion (ATK: 3500, LV: 8)," he told Paradox forcefully, taking the card off his tray and holding it up. "By sending this face-up monster to the Cemetery, I may Special Summon the monsters I sacrificed in order to Special Summon it. Return to me: Magnet Warriors Alpha (DEF: 1700, LV: 4), Beta (DEF: 1600, LV: 4) and Gamma (DEF: 1800, LV: 4)!"

As he placed the card into the Cemetery slot, the monster on his field split into its individual components while three cards slid from Yugi's cemetery into his open hand. He then placed the three cards on the tray horizontally, making their images appear before him. The pieces of the large metal monster them reassembled into the silver, yellow and pink creatures it had been made from, arms crossed in a defensive pose.

"Next, I activate my set Magic Card: Magnet Rebirth!" As he motioned at his set card, it flipped up and he moved his hand back to his Cemetery slot. "With this card, I Special Summon 1 monster with "Magnet Warrior" or 1 Valkyrion from the Cemetery that was sent there this turn. Return, Valkyrion (ATK: 3500, LV: 8)!" As the card slid back into his hand, he slapped it onto the tray and a barrage of sparks arose, bringing the tall monster back onto his field in an aggressive pose.

"_He's gathered several monsters on his field in a single move,"_ Paradox noted, recalling his reaction to the card he had drawn. _"There can be no mistaking this; the Three Phantom Gods have summoned one of their ranks to his hand. Now a God will descend into the world of Chaos; and it shall become the Devil's toy, and destroyed by Hell."_

"Next, I shall give Beta, Gamma and Valkyrion as a sacrifice…" Yugi added, grabbing the three mentioned cards and throwing them back into the Cemetery. "…And with their power, I shall give rise to my mightiest of servants: The Winged God Dragon of Ra (ATK: ?, LV: 10)!" In a burst of brilliant golden light, the three monsters disappeared into a trail of particles, while the card fell down into his tray.

Looking up to the sky, Yugi held his arms outstretched as the form of Maenou came into view supermised over his body, arms crossed and the Ancient Hieratic chant being uttered from his mouth. With this ritual being undergone, the form of the gigantic, eagle-like golden dragon began to arise from behind Yugi, its size dwarfing Paradox's dragon and its head high above Paradox on his platform.

"The power of this God is equal to the sum of its sacrifices (ATK: 6700)," Yugi declared while the golden flames died back, allowing for the form of the dragon to be fully revealed. Looking down upon Paradox, it snarled while eyes locked on the dark sneer of the man. "Though their power is separate far below your monsters, the power of God will unite their effort and prove far truer."

"That is the power of a God," Paradox responded to Yugi philosophically, closing his eyes while he spoke. "A being which can take the separate, unfocussed and otherwise inconsequential powers of many, and consolidate them into a force unmatched by any other. That is a God's role; but they are powerless on their own. You God is no different, Yugi. Its power is still no greater than those that summoned it; and before me, a God is nothing." Snapping his eyes open, Paradox declared strongly, "I will surpass and destroy your puny God."

"Your insolence before the Gods, and before us, will not go unpunished!" Maenou declared in a hostile tone, his own words being matched by Yugi's expressions. "My master ruled alongside this God and the others, and it was through their power that we protected our homeland. Your words are just prattle. No human is above a God!"

"Then prove me wrong and strike me down here with your God's power, Mutou Yugi!" Paradox commanded, placing his left hand over his heart. "Silence this beating life and forever crush it; and then prove that your God is nothing more than the sum of your human anger and hatred. Your God is nothing but a sinful lip service to powers divine!"

"I'll hear your words no further!" Yugi told him angrily, forming his hand into a fist and extending his arm forwards. "Battle! I attack Sin Blue-Eyes White Dragon with Ra! God Blaze Cannon!" Growling, the dragon began to form golden energy in the arch on its shoulders; this then funnelled into his jaws, where it condensed and started to form a ball of energy.

"Then allow my actions to open your eyes to God's true powerlessness," Paradox told Yugi, a confident sneer about his face. "Trap Card Open: Sin Switch!" As Yugi and the other two duellists put out looks of shock, the card appeared before Paradox. When the God's power launched from its mouth, it struck the card dead centre; from there, it turned pitch-black and rebounded in a tendril-like form towards Yusei.

"Sin Switch allows me to select which monsters declare an attack during the Battle Phase of this turn, by changing the attacks declared to those by other monsters." Sneering, he pointed at Yusei and told him, "You'll be the first to go, Fudo Yusei! I select Stardust Dragon to attack!"

The look of shock on Yusei's face was mirrored by those around him; and in his mind, Yusei feared the outcome of this round. _"If I accept this, then I'll take 2500 damage; and since I have only 2300 Life Points left, that would result in my loss. I can't let that happen… I have one card I can use, so I'll have to…"_

"Trap Card Open!" Judai suddenly yelled, grabbing his Deck out of his Duel Disc as the card flipped up. "Desperate Tag allows me to send one E-HERO Monster from my Deck to the Cemetery to add 1000 ATK to a monster I control, and make it the attack target. I send Bubbleman Neo to the Cemetery, and I choose Shining Flare Wingman (ATK: 5000)!"

Both Yusei and Yugi were amazed, and Paradox annoyed, as Judai took the monster out of his Deck and threw it into the Cemetery, causing a green aura to appear around his silver monster while it powered up. It then jumped up into the air and shot straight at the dragon, starting to form a green orb of energy in its hands. "Your monster and mine are both destroyed, Paradox; but thanks to my monster's effect, you'll take the 5000 damage that makes up its ATK!"

"How utterly pathetic," Paradox responded, snapping his fingers as another card popped up. "I activate the Trap Card Sin Drain, and Equip it to Sin Blue-Eyes!" Judai's look of fear then reappeared and intensified as Paradox told him, "Now, any monster that battles this equipped monster has its effect negated, meaning your Flare Wingman's power is far lower than mine (ATK: 3500)!"

Growling, the white dragon raised its head and blasted out another bolt of black lightning straight towards the glowing silver warrior. As said monster threw its green orb, it got lost in the blackness as the bolt blasted the monster, making it explode violently. The excess energy from the bolt the shot straight down, striking Judai and making him scream in pain while he fell onto his hands and knees.

Yugi: LP 3000

Judai: LP 2000

Yusei: LP 2300

Paradox: LP 12000

"Judai… I'm so sorry…" Yugi gasped out, his hand shaking while Judai got back to his feet. The man's injuries had persisted and his lip was not cut and bleeding; and he struggled to keep his footing as he cast an angry glare up at Paradox, who simply looked back at him with a psychotic sense of fulfilment and pulled a card from his Deck.

"Is that truly the best you can do?" the blond duellist question, raising his deformed eyebrow as a sadistic grin formed on his face. "Then I shall enjoy putting the lot of you out of your misery. You'll all die here and your blood shall stain the scorched earth; and with your lives a mere footnote, this very human species shall follow."

Shaking at the weight of both Paradox's words and his own risky actions, Yugi grabbed the card in his hand and placed it down onto the tray. "I activate a Magic Card, Treasures of Heaven! All players now draw cards until the have 6 in their hands!" Each player thus reached for their respective Decks and pulled several cards – Yugi 6, Paradox 5, Yusei 4 and Judai 3 – before adding them to their own grips. Then, Yugi took 3 of his own cards and shoved them into slots on his Duel Disc. "I end my turn."

"In the End Phase," Judai piped up, grabbing his Deck again, "The effect of Desperate Tag concludes. Since the target monster was destroyed, I draw 1 card." Pulling the object from his Deck, he immediately reached for the card again and said, "It's my turn!" Looking at the group of now 8 cards in his hand, he saw no possibility for offence; and so he had to make due with whatever protection he could.

"I Summon Neo-Spacian Groun Mole (DEF: 300, LV: 3)." Generating a horizontal card in front of him, Judai thus created his small mole-like creature with drill for shoulder pads in a cross-armed formation before him. "I also change Bubbleman to Defence Position (DEF: 1200, LV: 4)." Shifting the card on his tray caused a second card to appear under Judai's blue warrior, upon which it crouched down and crossed its arms.

"So you're trying to duck and hide now, are you?" Paradox questioned, mocking Judai utterly. "What a miserably human habit; to pick a fight with somebody and then fail to deliver, instead choosing to run and hide. It's absolutely pathetic, and a waste of everyone's time! It's a wonder you managed to become a Duel King when you can't even keep up a simple offensive!"

"Shut the fuck up already!" Judai yelled, grabbing a pair of cards from his hand. "I set these and end my turn." Once the card was in the tray, he turned to Yusei and told him, "Yusei, man, I jumped in and saved you back there because I knew you could bring the offence. I can't anymore because of that; so you have to bring him the pain. How him that he's wrong, and that we can give him a fight to remember."

"Right," Yusei said, nodding as he turned to Paradox and grabbed his cards. "Hey, Paradox! You can put us down and made us out to be nothing; but you've sealed your own fate by taking us on together! You said it yourself: A God's power is in the ability to unite people's will. Then feel our united will, and know the true rage of the power of a God!" As Yusei gripped his card, the edges of his Dragon's Head Birthmark started to glow in a burning red flame-like aura and he snapped his card up aggressively, yelling, "It's my turn!"

Spinning the card around after pulling it, he looked at it for a second before closing his eyes. In his mind, he saw that card and another monster from his hand, Stardust Dragon, and his 3 set cards form a chain with Paradox's own monster; and after he saw the cards fall into their order, he put his plan into action. "You want to battle me, Paradox? Then let's settle this! I attack Sin Blue-Eyes White Dragon with Stardust Dragon!"

"Have you lost your mind, or simply the will to fight?" Paradox questioned as Yusei's dragon bolted up into the air, flapping its wings and positioning to strike from above even the God Dragon. "Either way, I shall break you down right here! Sin Blue-Eyes, eliminate this pathetic dragon and its even weaker master from this reality! Burst Stream of Darkness!"

"Permanent Trap: Assault Spirits!" Yusei yelled, flipping up a card and causing it to turn into a purple aura around his dragon. "With this card, I send Shield Warrior from my hand to the Cemetery, and add its ATK to Stardust (ATK: 3300)! Then, I exclude Shield Warrior to prevent Stardust's destruction!"

Roaring, the dragon fired yet another bolt of black lightning; and in response, the white dragon Yusei owned closed its wings to the assault. The bolt thus deflected off the wings and went down at Yusei; but the man then swung his arm and revealed another card. "I activate the Trap Card, Synchro Shield! I negate the Battle Damage from a Synchro Monster's battle and draw 1 card!"

Once the card was up, the lightning simply hit around Yusei and grounded out, allowing Yusei do draw his card without so much as taking a point of damage. "Now that's a clever little card trick, being able to dodge damage like that," Paradox declared, looking condescendingly at Yusei, "but I'm afraid that your move accomplished nothing, so your cards are wasted. Just give up now."

"Smiling smugly, Yusei told Paradox, "But you see, my trick's not done. I activate Synchro Halo!" Getting a shocked rouse out of Paradox, and causing Yugi and Judai to smile triumphantly, Yusei told Paradox, "Since my attack failed, I double my monster's power (ATK: 6600) and let it attack again!"

While his dragon prepared to strike, Yusei held up a card already in his hand and told Paradox, "And furthermore, I activate Assault Spirits' effect again. By sending Bolt Hedgehog to the Cemetery, I further power up Stardust (ATK: 7400)! Go, Shooting Sonic!" Once the card was slid into the Cemetery slot, the dragon let out a burst of white energy that shot straight into the face of the opposing dragon, exploding it violently and causing a shard of the shattered mask to blast straight back at Paradox's face, followed by the shockwave.

Once the shard had been sent flying, Paradox was powerless to dodge it, both due to its speed and his lack of room to move. The shard struck into the left side of his face at bullet-like speed, snapping his head off to that side with a burst of blood. On the ground, Yusei looked up with an expression of confidence matched by his partners.

Yugi: LP 3000

Judai: LP 2000

Yusei: LP 2300

Paradox: LP 9600

Turning to face his opponents again, Paradox's face had changed into something that resembled not the being it had come from, but something far darker. His eyes were locked into an expression of pure hatred and rage, the left side of his face a bloody mess from the attack's damage. "You'll pay for that…" he told them scathingly, as a strange orange glow began to form over his damaged face and slowly heal the wound.

"Ranting on about humanity, talking about how pathetic and twisted we are," Yusei reflected, watching Paradox's face slowly revert to its undamaged state. "You're just like Placido after all, despite your insistence of how different you are. How does it feel to be the centre of your own hypocrisy? Admit it! You're Placido's shadow!"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Paradox shouted, his rage exploding in the faces of the three opponents. "I am **not** Placido! I am **nobody's** shadow! I am my own man, my own being, my own self-made God!" Growling, Paradox ground his teeth so hard that blood poured from his gums and his lip, as his face changed back into his sadistic sneer and he declared, "You think you're so smart, breaking through my monster like that? Then allow me to break _you_, Fudo Yusei. Yuki Judai. Mutou Yugi. What a joke you all are!"

"I set two cards and end my turn," Yusei declared, placing the two cards on either side of the trap attached to his dragon. _"That rattled Paradox pretty badly; bow let's just hope that blow to his ego does more damage than it did to his body. We need that _badly_, because his skills are among the strongest I've ever seen; and that includes Placido and Godwin."_

"Then I take my next turn," Paradox said, holding his hand out about an inch from his Deck as a black aura formed around the entire thing, leaping into his hand. The blackness faded away as Paradox pulled his arm back, leaving behind a card in his grasp. "Due to the effect of Sin World, I skip my Draw Phase and add 1 Sin Monster from my Deck to my hand. And I think that you, Yuki Judai, will be very familiar with this one."

Looking at Judai's confused glare, Paradox sneered as he placed the card onto his tray, causing one top slip out from his Deck and appear in holographic form. Instantly the blackness consumed the card and it changed into utter blackness, from which 7 dark-tinted beams of light – each a different colour – appeared and flared out in different directions.

"From my Deck, I exclude Ultimate Gem God – Rainbow Dragon," Paradox told him. "And in its place, I conjure the Sin Ultimate Gem God! Come to me, Sin Rainbow Dragon (ATK: 4000, LV: 10)!" Watching Judai's shocked face, Paradox watched as the rainbow energy twisted into the form of the white serpent dragon, its face masked and its main and hip wings converted to black and grey metal.

"You fucking bastard!" Judai yelled, flipping off Paradox as he did so. "You dare to steal the power of my friend's card?"

"You're the one who allowed me the power of this card," Paradox told Judai, stunning him instantly. "Yes; your match with Jack Atlus in Neo Domino just before the Dark Signer battle is where I took the power of the card from. You've allowed me access to the power of the ultimate monster."

Looking down at his hand further, Paradox let out a bit of a sigh. _"Sadly, I know that Yugi's set card is likely something to destroy my monster. I'm no fool, and even if I'm rattled by their tactics I will not lose my monster to their games. I won't attack them; I'll let them come to me, and then I will be safe from his plans."_ "I set 4 cards and end my turn." Surprising all 3 combatants, Paradox simply placed his cards into the card slots of his Duel Disc, causing them to form and leaving it at that.

Reaching for his Deck, Yugi snapped up a card and said, "It's my turn!" Looking at the cards in his hand, he thought to himself, _"He must be planning for me to attack; that's the only reason to leave that monster there like that. Well, a God will not be broken so easily, so I'll show him not to underestimate their power!"_ "Battle! I attack Sin Rainbow Dragon with The Winged God-Dragon of Ra!"

"No Yugi! It's a trap!" Judai yelled out as the God Dragon began to form the energy in is jaws. As the attack started to take shape, Paradox started to chuckle, and then laugh darkly at the foolhardy nature of the ploy. Within seconds Yugi's attack burst from the dragon's mouth straight at the Dragon, to which Paradox simply snapped his fingers.

"You're a true fool, Yugi. You rely on the power of a God and assume that I cannot harm it with any sort of card effect; but that's a lie. Instant Magic: Arms Regeneration!" Once Yugi was truly aware of the severity, Paradox brought out a card from his Cemetery slot and explained, "This card will return the Equip Magic from my Cemetery to my field since my monster is battling; and that card, Sin Enchant, will allow my Dragon to absorb 3000 points from these 6 Magic and Trap Cards (ATK: 7000)!"

In a burst of light, the card formed an aura around the dragon, at which time the creature screeched and blasted a burst of dark rainbow energy straight at the God's burst. The blackened strike cut through the divine flames and back to the source, consuming the golden dragon in the inferno and exploding it with a final defiant roar. Yugi, who was completely stunned, simply looked on as his might God fell to pieces that simply shattered on the ground.

Yugi: LP 2700

Judai: LP 2000

Yusei: LP 2300

Paradox: LP 9600

"Yugi… are you alright?" Yusei questioned, watching as the original King of Duellists simply looked down at his feet in a lost expression of defeat. Paradox simply reached for his own Deck and pulled a card as this went on; and Yugi, who seemed utterly lost, shed a few small tears from the corner of his eyes.

"It's truly self-defeating, isn't it?" Paradox questioned. "You put such faith in the Gods that no matter what they'll pull through for you. The Gods have let you down, Mutou Yugi, because you mistook their power for something greater. The power of Sinfulness is above all else; and in this case, that Sin is the power of envy, one of the strongest of them all."

"Envy…?" Judai questioned, looking at the darkened version of the dragon with utter hatred in his eyes. "What do you mean envy? Johan was a truly free spirit, a man who knew no such thing as jealousy. What could that possibly have to do with envy?"

"Because Johan was lost in the shadows of those around him," Paradox explained, causing Judai to growl at the answer. "He felt jealous of you and of Marufuji 'Hell Kaiser' Ryo, who were always higher in duelling circles than him. Though his envy was hidden, it was truly there; and it was strong, for this monster is one of my most powerful."

"I… I set one card and end my turn…" Yugi finally said, still sounding weak and lost as the card entered a slot on his Duel Disc. "I'm… I'm so sorry, guys… I never wanted for this to happen, but… but this, this…"

"Don't let his head games dig you down!" Judai snapped, his hatred for Paradox and his rage over Johan spilling into his words and making Yugi look up. "You are Yugi, the true King of Duellists! You are second to nobody, and your mistake was not a blunder but a stone in the pathway to us defeating Paradox! Get up! Our mission has just started!"

While Yugi looked at Judai, he pulled his card from his Deck and yelled, "I draw!" Upon seeing his card, he instantly spun it around and stated, "I activate a Magic Card, Neospacia Shot! When I have a Neo-Spacian Monster on my field, I destroy 1 face-up Magic or Trap Card and draw 1 card! And my choice is your field magic, Sin World!"

"That I cannot allow!" Paradox told him, pointing at his set card. "I activate a set Trap Card, Alter! Thanks to this, I may activate my set Permanent Magic known as Field Barrier!" Above Paradox's head, the card of his Field Magic appeared and was instantly covered by a green aura; thus, when Judai's card fired a beam of energy, it simply deflected. However, since a card vanished his Dragon's points shifted (ATK: 6500).

"Then I activate Take Over Five!" Judai added, taking a card from his hand and putting it into play. "Now I send my top 5 cards to the Cemetery!" Taking his top 5 cards (revealed as Necro Gardna, Cross Porter, Take Over 5, Elemental Hero Captain Gold and Different Dimension Tunnel – Mirror Gate), he placed them into his Cemetery slot, and then simply put his hand at his side. "I end my turn!"

"It's my turn!" Yusei then chimed in, pulling his own card and looking at Paradox with gusto. "I activate my Trap Card, Half Straight! Thanks to this, I halve Stardust Dragon's ATK (ATK: 1250) to allow it a direct attack if my opponent has a stronger monster! Go, Shooting Sonic!" With the command given, Yusei's dragon rose into the air again and fired on Paradox; but again the man was simply too clever, and he responded in a moment's notice.

"Trap Card Open! Sin Altar!" The card then appeared in front of the attacking burst and blocked it, exploding into chaff and then forming into the back of a card. "Sin Altar negates a direct attack, and adds 1 Sin Monster to my hand with a level equal to or less than my opponent's monster that attacked. Thus, my monster is Level 8."

"No…" Yusei said to himself, starting to understand why Yugi had become so depressed and Judai so enraged. It seemed that no matter what they planned to do, Paradox had an answer. "Then… I set 1 card and end my turn (ATK: 2500)." Where the previous Trap had been, a slot appeared and this card emerged, leaving Yusei with the same number of cards as last turn.

"Then let the fun continue," Paradox told them, holding up his hand and allowing a burst of blank energy to arise from his Deck and form a card in his hand. Looking squarely at Yugi, Paradox pointed with his card-holding hand and declared, "Now Yugi, I shall give you that attack! Sin Rainbow Dragon, attack Magnet Warrior Alpha!"

Stunned by the gesture, Yugi watched on in a frozen position of torn concern while Paradox's dragon built up a ball of dark energy in its jaws, creating a blackened rainbow ring around its jaws. _"There's no way he's doing this… it has to be some kind of trap. He's not stupid enough to let his monster be destroyed like that…"_

"Yugi! Snap out of it!" Judai suddenly yelled to the blue-clad man opposite him, suddenly snapping him out of his daze. "You can't let that attack through or we'll be defenceless! His monster is more powerful than anything we can take down through brute force, so we have to get rid of it now!"

Nodding as he realized the truth of Judai's statement, Yugi turned to his own set card and flipped it over. "Reverse card open: Holy Barrier – Mirror Force! Your monsters are now destroyed!" As the blast burst forth from the card, it struck the created barrier and was reflected backwards in a ricocheting pattern until it sliced the dragon in several points, exploding it before its master.

"No matter," Paradox declared, revealing yet another card from his hand. "I have in my possession the full extent of human Sin, and this is the next of my many servants." This time, the purple-rimmed card of a Fusion Monster appeared before Paradox, burst into black flames and released from its body the winding, winged serpent dragon it depicted.

"I exclude Cyber End Dragon from my Extra Deck, and thus summon forth… Sin Cyber End Dragon (ATK: 4000, LV: 10)!" Shedding from itself the black flames that covered it, the three-headed mechanical serpent dragon came into view; its three heads covered in a black, a white and a half-and-half mask respectively, its wings and chest plate covered in armour. The beast then uttered a guttural, mechanical growl as its body twisted around Paradox, by far the longest monster he had summoned yet.

"Behold, the embodiment of wrath!" Paradox told the three duellists, holding up the arm of his Duel Disc while he looked down upon them. "The hateful and wicked being known as Hell Kaiser Ryo's mightiest servant also personified his wrath, his fury; and so I have made it my servant as well. And to reflect that power, this monster is different from the previous two; for it retains the Penetration Damage effect of its original form!"

The words Paradox had just spoken sent shivers down the spines of the three duellists. Before them now existed another of Paradox's powerful monsters, beings he could call forth for practically no cost at all; and now one of them was something that could destroy them no matter what they did. _"His Deck…"_ Yusei realized, _"…it's composed of the strongest cards in our Decks, made even more mighty by the power of Sin. Could it be… that his Deck is perfect…?"_

Sneering darkly, Paradox reached into his hand and grabbed a single card, placing it instantly into a card slot on his tray. "I shall set this and end my turn. But you know by now that I will not rest until my goal is completed, regardless of what that means. No I suggest now, to the three Kings of Duellists, that you pray one last time to your impotent Gods before I slaughter you completely and grind you into the sands below our feet, like the worthless humans you are… Your kind make me sick."

"If such is the way you view us," Yugi stated, looking back up upon the man in a half-defeated, half-enraged expression. "Then there is no sense to further argue with you. I shall not do so, then; instead, I ask you Paradox but one question. What question is, how far will you go? How far will you march to complete your goals?"

"If it took ten eons, if I had to march to Hell and back, I would certainly do so," Paradox responded, his own gaze falling on Yugi while the light of their surroundings reflected off his eyes in an amber haze. "That is my mission; and neither you three, nor any of your friends, nor even Placido and his armies, shall stay me from that path."

"Then I shall march twice as far to undo your twisted farce!" the legendary duellist finally bellowed out, reaching energetically and grabbing the top card of his Deck, ready to draw. "After those challenges I faced in my past, and those which these two here face faced, it would be our pleasure!"

Judai and Yusei both nodded at this gesture, raising their right arms with closed fists as a sign of their devotion. "This sick joke of yours has traversed far enough! "The time of your undoing is nigh, Paradox!"

Stepping inside a doorway along one of the many walls inside the Arc Cradle, Alessandro made his way into a large, dark room with the corpse of Placido still in his arms. With Jose and Lucciano directly behind him, he looked along the walls of this citadel in the sky, and saw the flowing lines of energy along the walls. Even when inactive, the fortress seemed alive with its own rhythm.

Then, just as Alessandro stepped into the centre of the room, the entire area lit up with a white, omnipresent light, producing white fog along the floor around them. They then watched as the fog parted away on its own and the light died down, revealing a room filled with veins of energy along the walls and almost nothing else.

"What is… this place?" he inquired, his voice echoing everywhere as it did so. As though in reply to his words, the body of Placido burst into a glowing green circuit board pattern in his arms, the eyes glowing red, and it levitated from his grasp into the air before him. Taking a step back, he saw the body turn and face them, the unmoving expression on Placido's face making the feeling even more disturbing.

From all over the room, sections of cable then shot out from the walls, three-pronged plugs on the end of them digging into the material of Placido's body until they fully surrounded it. In a burst of green light, all this matter condensed and formed a cylindrical tank around Placido's body, filled with green luminescent fluid and branching a similar coloured energy out along the walls.

"El jefe… any idea what's going on here?" Alessandro asked of the taller, older member of the group, turning and seeing a solemn and conflicted expression on the man's face. It was quite clear to them just how inhuman Placido truly had been; now he was reduced to a floating metal carcass in a tank, his body suspended in a substance foreign to any of their knowledge.

Just then, Jose noticed something occurring around the edges of Placido's damaged body, and putting aside his concern he stepped forward and looked at the floating body of his comrade. Around the edges where his parts had been destroyed, the green fluid was beginning to collect, ionize and condense, forming new material a few micrometres at a time.

"It is the power of Momentum under the command of Ylaidus," Jose deduced, informing those behind him and then bowing on one knee. In response to that the two behind him knelt down the same way, their waist-length hair hanging loose from their cloaks and Jose's ponytail hanging beside his torso.

"_All which has been made can be destroyed; and for all which has been destroyed, new life can be found,"_ the mechanical-sounding voice of the deity issued, the energy lines along the interior suddenly expanding and growling more intense as they did so. _"My servant shall be revived; and the sinful Neo Domino City shall pay the forfeit for the peace."_

From the streets of the city below, the Signers and their company glanced up at the Arc Cradle in the sky, unable to understand the object which had been created before them. They knew not the nature or the purpose of the construct all they knew was that it has arisen from the duel with Placido, and had remained long after the being's demise.

"This feeling… I never expected the end of a battle to be so empty and devoid of meaning…" Johan lamented, half-suppressing a nervous chuckle. "It seems like we've won a great victory, defeating Placido and stopping his plan; and yet, we had to lose the three greatest duellists of all time, three of our best friends…"

"It's even harsher of a truth than that, if you think about it," Arynis commented, her eyes glued to the sky and the darkened clouds above. "If Placido were alone in his quest, we would have been done here; but that's not the case, for he was a leader of Yliaster. There are many more soldiers out there for their cause."

"There are still at least two Emperors of Yliaster left, Jose and Alessandro," Aki recalled, responding to the blond woman's comment. "Besides, if they succeeded in reviving Lucciano as I suspect they came after me to do, then they've effectively lost nothing." Growing even darker in tone, she too glanced up to the sky and added, "Not to mention that… that Aeon they worship is still out there…"

"Hold on…" O'Brien suddenly said aloud, getting the attention of everyone else in the group. "Does anybody else hear that noise? That low, electrical humming…?" Immediately after he posed the question, they all turned their heads and looked to their surroundings, ears tuned. Sure enough, they soon heard the sound of a feint pitch, like a mosquito's wing beats, coming from… from all around them.

"What… the… fuck… is going on…?" Crow questioned slowly and with the tension of a deer staring at a hunter. Immediately realizing he had sworn in front of the twins, for the umpteenth time, he cringed angrily at himself; but then, the marks on the arms of the Signers all burst into glow, and Hell Kaiser's eyes similarly gained a bluish glowing hue.

Turning and gazing disbelievingly, they all watched as a pattern of glowing lines, blue in colour and much like the pattern the Circuit had been composed of, began to slowly form along all the edges of the cities, letting out the low pitch while the lines snaked across their surroundings like ever-growing vines. "Oh… my… God…" the redhead added, his mark burning in his arm as though it had been covered in hot coals. "What is all this…?"

"Ask that thing…" Asuka hinted ominously, pointing up to the sky towards the floating citadel in the sky, the Arc Cradle. Along its entire form, red lines with a chaotic, pulsating glow to them much like the Crimson Dragon began to form, while the sound of a low, guttural yet ominous growl filled the night air.

Without any warning beyond that point, they started to hear a light electrical crackling, much like static electricity. Realizing it was coming from all around them, they all suddenly came to a horrified conclusion when they saw what was happening. From the parts of the city covered in the blue glow – buildings, highways, billboards, vehicles, everything – seemed to start dissolving, dust-sized particles of blue light slowly flaking off and floating into the sky towards the Arc Cradle.

"Ah hell no…" Kiryu observed, speaking calmly yet with a clear expression of frustration and fear on his face. "What did that Placido guy do…?"

"I don't think it's what Placido did…" Hell Kaiser added, pointing off in the direction of Satellite. "The burst that struck the fortress came from the Old Momentum, which was negatively charged. It caused the Circuit, which was positively charged, to come apart and scatter its charge like debris; and it then absorbed the negative energy from the blast to fill the void left behind. This is the result…"

"Nature abhors two things: a vacuum, and a charged energy state," Marc noted, listing off two basic principles of science. "To neutralize the charges of both halves, the positive energy is being lost so it can combine with the negative energy, and create a net charge of zero. If the charge of that fortress isn't balanced, this city is going to be ripped apart…"

"Wait, back up to what Hell Kaiser said," Jack insisted, the urgency in his voice making people listen that much more closely to what he was saying. "You mentioned that the energy blast came from the Old Momentum… isn't that exactly where Taiyou, Kyojo and Yusuriha went…?" Upon saying this, everyone on the group simply fell silent, gasps on their faces…

"_If I have read the plans of Yliaster and Placido's group correctly, then my plan will soon fall directly into place,"_ Paradox thought to himself, smirking visibly as he pondered the idea. _"They will no doubt try to revive their leader and get the Arc Cradle back to full power; and when that happens, I will open the gateway to that realm of truth and claim victory from the clutches of God himself…"_

"Tell me, legendary duellists," Paradox stated down to the three duellists below him, the grin disappearing and being replaced by a solemn expression. "You can look around and see the results of a world gone to Hell. You can see that the world of man has been doomed, and that almost nothing remains of this decrepit world. And now I ask you: how do you think it has become this way?"

Examining the world around them carefully, their focuses shifted from one point to the next in rapid succession; and everything they saw only added to the horrifying notion that this was in fact the end of the world for man. "I've seen this kind of destruction before," Judai said, his tone reflecting his shock and understanding. "These are the effects of war…"

"That is precisely the case," the blond duellist responded, a tear forming in the corner of his right eye and rolling down his cheek before it simply dissolved off his face from the heat of his device. "Humanity found itself in the middle of a war between two of its most powerful forces; but by the end, it became a war for human survival."

"What do you mean?" Yugi questioned, the words stinging at his core just as much as anyone else's. "You mentioned a virus… do you mean that biological warfare was used?"

"No; the virus that occurred was one that was even more severe than that. When the war between the United States of America and North Korea broke out, nobody believed that it would ever amount to much; after all, the two nations had been in conflict for decades, each occasionally provoking the other but never breaking out into a serious conflict. But one year, that changed entirely…

"During the closing ceremonies of the 325th annual WRGP, the United States team was in the middle of a victory lap, circling the track and performing their signature stunts; and suddenly, shots rang out, echoing in the air for miles around. An extremist group has been sent to target several important figures in the crowd; a hundred people, including thirteen American federal politicians, were killed."

"The entire end of the world… was started by the WRGP…?" Yusei questioned in a voice more stunned than even he would have expected. "How could they…? Using a public spectator event as a venue for such a hostile and violent act… why would they do this?"

"Nobody knows what their motives were; but the effects of their actions were swift and painful. The United States invaded the nation, using military might to bring the government of North Korea to its knees. In retaliation, the North Korean army likewise invaded the United States, slaughtering civilians with artillery and tanks fire."

While all three of the duellists before him cringed, Paradox explained a critical piece of information to his role in the entire affair. "At the time, I was a scientist in Germany, working with a freelance arms manufacturer. We received a request from the United States to supply the best in non-manned weapon-ized vehicles we could.

"The result of our work was a series of large, mechanical beings, very much like the Machine Emperors used by Yliaster. These monstrous beings were the pinnacle of artificial intelligence, mobilized weapons platforms that could detect enemy signals and take up arms against them. In a mere few days, the entire army of North Korea had been eliminated."

"You're the one who created the Machine Emperors…?" Yusei again questioned, with Judai's face reflecting a similar question in that moment.

"The world we lived on was the pinnacle of human greed and selfishness. Violence and corruption were ways of life; and in that twisted regime, I was one of a large number of people to become rich beyond my own means. Human advancement had become a means by which to line our pockets, and in turn we used that money to further ourselves in a perpetual cycle.

"That cycle was all down to Momentum, the energy of human souls which can be channelled through and with D-Wheels. In my time, the use of Momentum had become advanced immensely because of a massive, earth-shattering discovery off the coast of Europe. A discovery which turned out to be beyond any human understanding…

"You're talking about Atlantis," Yugi reasoned, recalling what he had been told by Dartz countless years prior. "An advanced society with technology far beyond our own, all sourced from an energy source previously unusable. I had never even realized that Momentum could be that energy source…"

"Not simply Atlantis, but a very specific part of its ruined city; a citadel created from previously unknown alloys, fuelled by Momentum and capable of levitation in and of itself. It acted as a Momentum transformer, collecting static Momentum from the surroundings and purifying it for use, keeping only enough to sustain itself first."

"The Arc Cradle!" Yusei suddenly realized, having heard Placido refer to the fortress in question as 'The Final Momentum'. "You mean to tell me that the Circuit Yliaster summoned is connected to Ancient Atlantis? We know well of the Orichalcos and its energy; do you mean this power came from space."

"No; though it did come from another place of existence," Paradox explained, looking down upon them darkly. "The Arc Cradle was created by the Aeons themselves, likely Ylaidus in particular; and by using its power, humanity had advanced enough to create entire levitating cities, and an almost unlimited supply of energy."

"But humans learned all-too-late the price of such foolishness actions. The Machine Emperors were powered by Momentum, meaning they would fuel themselves over time; and by the end of their mission, it meant they would shut down. But that was not the case, and the Machine Emperors turned on the human populace seemingly without reason.

"We later discovered what had happened, and it shocked us to the core. The Aeons themselves, as punishment for our misguided ways, used our own inventions as the angels of the Apocalypse, reprogramming them and killing everything in their path. We were powerless to stop them, and they simply destroyed cities, then countries.

"But the final blow came shortly after that. The Momentum reactors all over the world became overloaded from the force of these Machine Emperors, made even worse by the handful of rebelling human armies actually standing up to them. Despite our best efforts to stop it, the reactors and the robots exploded violently, the blast itself killing everything nearby; and in the days that followed, poisonous Momentum radiation set in, killing almost everyone still alive."

"The virus you were talking about is the influence of the Aeons which caused Momentum to go berserk and the Machine Emperors to lay siege."

"Wrong!" Paradox snapped, his frustration evident. "Don't you see? _Humanity_ was the virus, responsible for its own downfall. Humans were the ones who became so greedy, reckless and violent. Humans are the ones who created the Machine Emperors, and who harnessed the technology of the Gods against all wisdom.

"That is why I now make my move. If I can prevent humans from ever discovering Momentum and abusing power beyond their understanding, then I can prevent cataclysm. But because humans are so ignorant and selfish, my only choice is to kill them all; and with humanity gone, this world shall finally know peace…"

**Card of the Chapter – Paradox**

**Sin Enchant**

**Equip Magic**

**Effect: **Equip only a "Sin" Monster. The ATK of that monster is increased by 5000 Points for Every Magic and Trap Card on your side of the field. When that monster destroys an opponent's monster in battle and send it to the Cemetery, draw 1 card. If you do not control "Sin World," remove this face-up card and the equipped monster from play.

*So, the question of what happened to Paradox's world is finally answered, and with a dark commentary. Review if you wish.*


	3. The True Face of Paradox

**Disclaimer**: The following piece is in no way a claim to ownership of the depicted characters. Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh R, Yu-Gi-Oh GX and Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's are owned by TV Tokyo, Konami Corporation and Kazuki Takahashi. The song with which this story shares its name is the property of Dutch Metal Band 'Within Temptation'; the name is used here solely for the poetic nature of such a reference. This story as presented is strictly for entertainment purposes, both for its owner and readers.

**Chapter 3 – The True Face of Paradox, Sin Paradox Dragon**

Standing in a battle-ready position, his fingers clenched onto the top card of his Deck and his steely gazed locked on the blond-haired duellist above, Yugi's face elicited a rekindled passion and a great sense of drive, one that onlookers would have said had previous left him. "The time of your undoing is nigh, Paradox! There is no way that I, that we, will let you carry on any further! It's my turn!"

Holding his newly-drawn card in his extended arm, his gaze fell on it just long enough for his eyes to expand in surprise and relief. Reaching into his hand with that card folded between his fingers, he threw a card onto the tray. "First, I change Magnet Warrior Alpha to Attack Position (ATK: 1400, LV: 4); then, I summon Black Forest Witch (ATK: 1100, LV: 4)!"

While the monster perched on its own card before him stood up, a black-cloaked female monster with a third, open eye on her forehead emerged, just before a card on Yugi's field immediately flipped up. "Reverse card open: Dimension Magic! Since I control a Magician, I send one monster I control to the Cemetery and Special Summon 1 from my hand! I'm counting on you, Black Magician (ATK: 2500, LV: 7)!"

In a brilliant array of light, the black-clad monster vanished and became a colourful sarcophagus, suspended in a cubic frame by chains. Opening slowly as Yugi threw the card in his hand onto the tray, this released the purple-clad, brown-skinned and staff-wielding for of Yugi's signature monster, creating a look of awe on the faces of all those present. "Next, I also destroy 1 monster on the field! Begone, Sin Cyber End Dragon!"

Bellowing in defiance, the dragon in question was forced to remain still while the magician monster shot into the air, spinning its staff end over end. Eventually, and much to Paradox's chagrin, the staff of the monster fell straight and the humanoid dove downwards, slicing the dragonic machine in half and producing a violent explosion in the process.

"Next, due to the effect of Witch, since it was sent to the Cemetery, I add one monster with a Defence Strength of 1500 or less from my Deck to my hand!" Pulling a card from the top of his Deck quickly, he then tossed one from his hand into the Cemetery and added, "I also discard Phantom Beast King Gazelle to Special Summon that monster… Come on, THE Tricky (ATK: 2000, LV: 5)!"

In between Yugi's two existing monsters, the form of a jester-like black and yellow striped being came into view, a question mark covering its face. Paradox, not to be outdone by such a move, put on an angered snarl and boasted, "No mass summoning of monsters will bring me down, even if performed by a Legendary Duellist! Trap Card Open: Sin Revenger!"

Watching the stunned expressions fall over the faces of his opponents, Paradox added in a smug tone, "This card can only be activated when my opponent summons a monster during a turn a Sin Monster I control is destroyed. Now, no monster with less Attack Strength than the destroyed monster can attack this turn; and furthermore, I draw one card for each Attack Position Monster my opponent controls!"

"_He seems to have an answer for every step of the match,"_ Yugi realized as Paradox pulled three cards from his Deck, before looking down at his own hand. _"Still, by the time Judai and I have each had a turn, he usually has few enough Trap cards left that Yusei can do some damage. We just need to keep up the momentum…"_ "I set one card and end my turn!"

"_That means it's all up to me now,"_ Judai noted, looking at Yugi's expression and discerning the same thing the latter had moments earlier. _"I have to use up as many of Paradox's cards as I can."_ "I draw!" he then issued, watching his Cemetery slot immediately begin to glow as soon as he had taken the card into his hand, much to Paradox's surprise.

"From my Cemetery, I activate the effects of the two Take Over Five cards I have there. During the Standby Phase of my turn, if these cards were sent to the Cemetery during a previous turn, I can remove them from play and draw 1 card for each one. Therefore, I pull two more cards!" With the new card still in his hand, he then reached back down and grabbed two more cards, fanning out the resultant three and deciding in a split second his next course of action.

"Next, I summon Elemental Hero… Another Neos (ATK: 1900, LV: 4)!" immediately after saying this, he held up the monster's card and produced a smaller, more juvenile-looking version of his signature white extraterrestrial warrior; then, he took another of his new cards and inserted it into a slot on his tray.

"Furthermore, I equip the Equip Magic Superbis onto Another Neos," Judai explained, "and since my Another Neos is a Dual Monster, it becomes treated as 'Elemental Hero Neos' for as long as it is face-up. Go, Contact Fusion!" Bursting up into the air, the white warrior and the previously-existing mole monster shot up into a special field with a white nebula at its centre, where the two monsters met head-on and burst into light.

"Come: Elemental Hero… Groun Neos (ATK: 2500, LV: 7)!" Soon, a brown and white warrior much like the one that had disappeared, complete with a large drill for a lower right arm, appeared onto Judai's field before a card slid out from his Cemetery. "Since Superbis went to the Cemetery, I Special Summon one Normal Monster from my Cemetery. Come, Sparkman (ATK 1600, LV: 4)!"

In a burst of electricity, the gold and navy-clad monster from earlier reemerged, directly beside the one Judai had just summoned, resulting in a look of satisfaction from both Yusei and Yugi and a look of annoyance from Paradox. "Finally, I equip the Magic Card, Instant Neo Space, onto my Groun Neos!" Once the card was there, a small circle of the ever-shifting rainbow nebula appeared at the monsters' feet, contrasting heavily with the purple starry world that surrounded them.

"Go, Groun Neos! Direct attack!" Looking on at the sight in what can only be called terror, Paradox watched the monster jump up directly in front of him, its drill-wielding arm back as the conical blade began to spin. In a violent thrusting motion, the drill blasted through Paradox's right side, causing the right side of his head, his right shoulder and arm, and the right side of his head to explode into orange contrails of energy.

"It's your turn, Sparkman! Direct attack!" Hearing the commands, the other monster on Judai's field jumped up into the air as the first returned to its place. Before Paradox could reform in any way, the blast of electricity from the monster's attack struck his body, creating a violent explosion as his Life Pointes fell.

Yugi: LP 2700

Judai: LP 2000

Yusei: LP 2300

Paradox: LP 5500

"Paradox, you will never possess that which you desire!" Judai shouted up to the mass of orange energy that emerged from the smoke of the blast, energy streaming off it like lightning bolts as it resumed a vaguely human form. "Your servants are fallen, you have no one else you can corrupt… You have nothing left, Harbinger of Chaos, Signer of Destruction! You have nothing! You are nothing!"

"Get out of my mind Placido!" Paradox remembered screaming to the voice that surrounded him. Screaming in terror, Paradox had found himself in this strange vision, standing before a huge form of glowing energy with red eyes, while Placido's voice had taunted him with his dark ramblings. "Leave me alone!"

"_I can never do that, Paradox,"_ the voice had told him, the burning wall which had been before him changing to a more indistinct shape before finally dissolving. _"For you see, it's impossible for me to leave you. You and I are forever one. Placido and Paradox do not exist; but you exist, and your mind has created this world. Bring it to life…"_

"You can't be real… this has to be a lie…" Wide-eyed and in terror, Paradox watched as the energy slowly flowed around him, growing darker and more solid-looking with each passing heart-beat. His pulse now pounding in his mind, he looked before himself and saw Placido's upside-down face fused into the now present wall, his hair melded into vein-like structures and his exposed facial scar glowing red to match his eye.

"_Are you truly too afraid to realize that you're hearing the truth, or do you simply find it too painful to realize?" _ the voice mocked, Placido's insane expression almost seeming like a Cheshire cat. _"You once said it yourself" you and I have our fates tied together by a greater power. We are both falsities, shadows of real people who have forever lost our real lives."_

"Both… falsities…?" Paradox questioned, the symbol of the Crimson Dragon's seal forming on his back while lines stretched off of Placido's glowing scar, illuminating a web along the wall with red glowing cracks. As these stretched farther, several overlapped and sections of the wall violently shattered, allowing a pair of massive, mechanical-looking wings lined with blade-like feathers to protrude through them. Lost in a bathing golden light, they cast shadows on Paradox's face, while Placido's face disappeared into the silhouette of a goliath human-like form.

"_Think back to the first thing you remember, the things you did to yourself after the fall of the Empire you created…"_ a new, deeper voice issued, one that held a similar tone to Placido's but was gruffer, darker, and more solemn. _"For you see, Paradox, I was not the one to make a deal beyond human understanding…"_

His eyes going blank, Paradox fell into his knees and his gaze fell to the ground, his form limp and terrified gasping escaping his lips. Images flashed through his mind, dark negatives upon the backdrop that was the light in his mind. The images seemed so distant and distorted, yet he suddenly remembered them as plain as day…

He could see himself, as suddenly as it had happened, kneeling before the form of the mechanical disc-like entity, the great Aeon which Yliaster had revered. He remembered the being having come to him, though he could not remember why; and as he gazed upon the form, the sound of many distorted voices echoed in the background, while the being itself began to speak.

"_You have been lead astray, Signer,"_ the being issued, sounding so much more caring and loving than Paradox had ever heard the man speak before or since. _"I am here to lead you back to the path which you were intended for. You may call me Ylaidus, the Divine Judge; and I know that you know not of my kind, but know that we shall not let you perish so easily…"_

Fading back into the white light, Paradox now found himself in the middle of a laboratory, surrounded by strange machines and tubes of liquid. Turning his head off to one side, he saw one machine with a floor-to-ceiling tube several feet in diameter, one with a body inside. Well over six feet tall, with a muscular build and blond and purple hair, the being sat floating, attached by tubes and wires.

Standing onto his own feet, Paradox stepped slowly towards the being before him, and realized in less than a heartbeat what he was looking at. The human in the tank was none other than himself; but it didn't seem to him quite right, as though there were something false about this one. And as he stepped closer still to the tank, his reflection told him the entire story.

It seemed to Paradox that his mirror image was surreal, falsified; for he did not recognize it at first, and he could not believe it to be so even after he realized. His own hair was blond without the purple, seemingly whitened and greyed with age; and this was confirmed by his skin, which was wrinkled with age. His eyes were green, sunken and tired, showing the effects of aging and defeat.

"_Your little attempt to cheat death did not initially succeed…" _ the voice of the winged figure suddenly issued, and without warning Paradox found himself in the white void again. Looking back at the silhouette, he then shifted to his own hand, which was just as young and strong as the being that had been in the tank. _"Your heart stopped, and you came within inches of being lost to the world…"_

"…W…Why…?" Paradox questioned, trying to be demanding but coming across as immediately horrified. "I've seen the way you people work, the way you seem to have somebody for every role. Why was I worth the effort to try and save, instead of simply letting me die? After all, you never even tried to use me for good…"

"_You still don't remember everything, do you…?"_ the voice again questioned, seemingly rather condescending at the idea. _"No matter, though; to answer your question, there are two reasons wer saved you. The first was sheer convenience for us; we wanted to see the power of one person, one enhanced being why was beyond humanity's limits…"_

"And what… what was the other…?" Paradox questioned, the words of the figure hitting him with meteor-like impact. He had just been told that he had been spared, that he had been used by the very people he had resented. What else did he not know…?

"_To punish you for your insolence,"_ the voice answered darkly, and harshly, as though trying to make Paradox break down even further. _"Those who would tread upon the feet of the Aeons and try to defy the laws of the world are in no higher standing to us than murderers, than terrorists. You wanted to cheat and go forever without death; but fortunately for us, eternity is a long time to suffer… _

"_But worry not, we will soon send someone to reap you, to set you free from your Purgatory of agony; for you see, even we believe in forgiveness. You have suffered enough for our satisfaction, Paradox, and so a member of Yliaster shall soon be dispatched to set you free…."_Then, almost as soon as it had come, the light burst to nova-like proportions, casting Paradox out with more questions than when he had come…

Hearing the last of Judai's echoing words as though through a long and narrow tunnel, Paradox's face held a despaired and pained look of emptiness as it finally rematerialized onto his body. With his form now back into view but his hair still flowing masses of energy, he gazed back down upon Judai with his eyes blank, his arms hanging in a defeated slump.

"Look at you, filthy piece of shit!" the red-haired duellist scorned, his angered fist shaking at his side. "You dare to mock humanity, to refer to us as a virus upon the earth? You're one to talk, just another freak; you're less than human, less even than sub-human. You're just a failed science experiment, a face-wearing toy just like your friend Placido."

With his hair finally finished reforming, along with the flowing edges of his coat, Paradox's blank eyes suddenly sparked back to life, a fiery boiling anger now showing in them. His teeth clenched, his own fist shaking and a growl escaping his lips, the blond duellist finally barked out, "Shut your filthy mouth, defective human! What could you possibly know of imperfection? You, a reject of both human and Duel Spirit worlds, both and neither. You are the lowest of creatures, below even Placido and his megalomania."

"Have a grudge against Duel Spirits do we?" Judai questioned tauntingly, his eyes changing to Yubel's as he watched Paradox gain further agitation. With his voice echoing in hers, he further added, "Why ever would that be? You seem far too quick to make servants of them to truly hate Duel Spirits. Then the answer is… losing humanity. You hate us because we are inhuman; but you see Paradox, that's self-hatred. Even Placido could see the value in humanity…"

"I've had enough out of you, demon bitch," Paradox snapped at Yubel, pointing to a card on his field before any more words were exchanged. "Trap card Open: Sin Closer! During the End Step of my opponent's turn, if two or more Direct Attacks were made, I can exclude one Sin Monster in my Cemetery with an Original Attack higher than those of the monsters that attacked. I shall use the power of Sin Cyber End Dragon, as I exclude it."

Seeing Judai gasp and then cringe at this, the card slid from Paradox's cemetery before the ghostly silhouette of the three-headed dragon in question appeared behind Paradox, snarling at Judai. "Now, all monsters that attacked this turn are sent to the Cemetery, and I recover Life Points equal to the sum of their Attack Strength." Snarling, the dragon's body exploded into a shower of glowing white and black shards, cutting through and exploding both of Judai's monsters.

Yugi: LP 2700

Judai: LP 2000

Yusei: LP 2300

Paradox: LP 9600

"That may be the case," Judai stated, looking through his Deck, "but you triggered the effect of Instant Neo Space by destroying it. Now, I can Special Summon Neos from my Deck. Come (ATK: 2500, LV: 7)!" Holding the card up to the air, he called forth the true form of his muscular white warrior, appearing behind him and standing as he returned his Deck to its slot.

"With this all three of our ace monsters are assembled," Yugi noted, holding up Black Magician's card while Yusei held up the card for his own white monster, Stardust Dragon. Immediately, the three monsters rose into the sky, the two humanoids crossing their arms while the dragon wrapped its wings around them; and as they did so, it created a wind that shook the field and left Paradox standing stunned.

Once all three of the monsters had finished, they settled back down and returned to their respective fields, Judai picking out two cards from his hand and inserting them into slots. _"That was a wise call, using Instant Neo Space early on. I knew his card would try and destroy my monster; this way, at least I'm safe for a turn or two." _"It's all on you now, Yusei!"

"Understood," Yusei responded, giving Judai the thumbs up as the redhead did the same, before he turned back to his Deck and pulled a card. "It's my turn!" After looking at his drawn card for all of a second, he placed it into his hand and realized,_ "After Yugi and Judai's turns, he doesn't have much in the way of field cards. I can go straight for a head-on attack."_

"Battle! I direct attack Paradox with Stardust Dragon!" Snarling loudly, the white dragon used its wings to rise right into the air, until it was higher up even than Paradox was. Aiming its head down, it started up build up white energy in its jaws. "Reverberate, Shooting Sonic!" With that the dragon released its deadly burst upon Paradox, once again blasting the right side of his body into a stream of energy before he pulled himself back together.

Yugi: LP 2700

Judai: LP 2000

Yusei: LP 2300

Paradox: LP 7100

"I set one card and end my turn," Yusei then added, reaching for a card previously in his hand and placing it in a slot of its own. _"If I had drawn a monster card with some power, I could have done even more that turn; but I guess that will have to wait. Paradox simply can't keep up such a fight against three of us like he's doing."_

With his arm now completely reformed, Paradox put his two hands together and began to clap sarcastically, drawing in the attention of all three duellists from below. "Good, good, very good…" the man uttered in English, before he simply stopped altogether and added, "I can tell what you're trying to do, you know. A wise move, trying to wear through my resources in order to deal successful hits. But the thing is, Yusei, that takes a heavy toll on their own cards counts; and soon, they will have left no means of protection."

"Stop jerking us around!" Judai yelled back at the bond duellist, sticking up his middle finger as he did so. "You can't keep up your little stunts, either; soon you'll run out of cards, and then we'll be able to pound you down like you deserve!" His rage boiling up and spilling over, Judai's face grew so intense that his eyes changed from Yubel's eyes to the golden ones that marked his Supreme King form.

Smirking darkly at Judai's comment, almost as though he was amused, Paradox said back to him in a smooth tone, "Then let us just see whose life runs out first." Reaching to his Deck, he held up his hand just above the cards before the dark aura from previous times returned, rising up and forming a card in the centre of his hand.

"Due to Sin World's effect, I have added a Sin Monster to my hand yet again. And now, by excluding Destruction Dragon Gandora from my Deck, I invoke Sin Destruction Dragon Gandora (ATK: 0, LV: 8)!" Holding his card up to the sky, a single card slid out of Paradox's Deck and rose above his head, spinning around and enlarging before it was consumed by a black aura.

"That monster…" Yugi realized, his eyes opening wider than they had in quite some time. "I used that monster against Bakura, against my Other Self…" As the card changed into the curled-up silhouette of a dragon, his gaze grew into a scowl and he asked aloud, "What the hell kind of a joke is this?"

"The only joke is the farce which you miserable humans would call the self, the identity; for this creature here represents your own faults, just as you said." Watching the dragon come into form, he unveiled Yugi's old Black, segmented dragon with the mask covering its face, similar armour along the upper edges of its neck, and the armoured wings. On the right side of its face, a single red eye looked down upon Yugi, glowing crimson as the beast snarled.

"You, Mutou Yugi, are a similar embodiment of envy, just as with that Johan boy," Paradox informed him, his face changing into a crazed sneer complete with hissing tone. "You can try and lie to yourself all you want, but deep down you were always envious of the people around you. Not just your other self, but all your friends: for having the courage to fight on, and having the determination to stick by you forever, which you yourself lacked."

"That's a bald-faced lie!" Yugi responded, raising his now-shaking fist up at Paradox while the dragon behind him continued to snarl. "I accepted my friends and their compassion towards me, I shouldered the burden of all that responsibility; and in the end, it made me a bigger person for it. Now, I have all the courage they bestowed upon me."

"Exactly," Paradox added, pointing down accusingly at Yugi. "And when you did so, that envy you harboured simply melted away, but it birthed a new sin within you: pride. You enjoyed the thrill of the chase, the act of fighting and winning against unspeakable opposition; and all because you felt the greatest euphoria from such conquest. You're as big an egotist as you ever accused Kaiba Seto of being, and you don't even realize why."

Before Yugi could even grown out a retort, Paradox motioned towards his dragon and returned to the game play, snapping his fingers to indicate a move. "I activate the effect of Sin Destruction Dragon Granadora. Once per turn, I can pay 2000 Life Points to destroy and remove from play all cards on the field save for a Field Magic Card. Go, my beast! Darkness Giga!"

Yugi: LP 2700

Judai: LP 2000

Yusei: LP 2300

Paradox: LP 5100

Roaring loudly, the red orbs that lined the body of the dragon, along with some along its neck and head covered by the mask armour, lit up in a brilliant dark red glow and exploded bursts of energy out of them, striking all the cards on the field other than the field card. However, immediately the white dragon behind Yusei leapt up into the air, lunging at its aggressor and wrapping its wings around it. "I activate Stardust Dragon's effect, Victim Sanctuary!"

In a moment's notice, the white dragon turned into a white glowing field around its blank opponent, cancelling out all of its energy blasts and causing the monster itself to warp off the field. "That may have worked for your team, Yusei; but with that your field is empty, and I am free to hit you with the power of Sin!"

Watching Yusei's eyes go wide in terror, and those of his partners growing similarly concerned, Paradox held up another card from his hand and added, "My next servant has been meant for you specifically, Yusei… I exclude Red Daemon's Dragon from my Extra Deck!" With that, the form of the monster card came into view, covered by blackness until the monster on it materialized; albeit with the mask in, and armour covering its wings, chest, shins and shoulders (ATK: 3000, LV: 8).

"This monster here is such a chaotic beast, for it is a combination of sins from your little friend, Jack Atlus... The first is Pride, the mark of a man who holds himself in such high standing that even his friends are far beneath him. He is wrathful, showing his ever-present aggression to all around him. But, there is also envy… yes, for Jack has felt that you would leave him behind, discarding your friendship as meaningless…"

Watching Yusei squirm at his words, the blond duellist pointed at him and declared, "With this strike I shall forever banish you from my sight; and with you gone, your friends shall lost Stardust Dragon, the only thing protecting them from my effects. Now be gone, you pathetic excuse for a duellist! Darkness Power Force!"

Leaning its left hand back, Paradox's massive dragon formed a black fireball around its fist and shot straight at Yusei, the burning knuckles aimed straight at his chest. Then, just as it was about to strike Yusei, the form of a white-haired, metal-clad monster formed in front of Yusei and absorbed the impact, exploding and leaving Yusei unharmed. "Due to Necro Gardna's effect," Judai declared, holding up the mentioned card, "I can negate the attack of an opposing monster just once by removing from play this card in my Cemetery."

"Wrecthed little bastard," Paradox cursed at Judai, who mockingly gave Paradox the 'V for victory' while the bond man reached into his hand. "I shall set two cards face-down and proceed to my End Phase, wherein Yusei's Stardust Dragon shall revive (ATK: 2500, LV: 8)." Watching Yusei's field, Paradox watched his prediction unfold, the white dragon appearing from a field of white glowing dust. "I end my turn."

"I draw!" Yugi issued viciously, glaring at Paradox while he looked at the card he had drawn carefully. "If you believe me to be so full of sin, Paradox, then allow me to cleanse my soul with your defeat. I activate Treasure of Black Magic!" Watching the card materialize before him, he added, "If I control a DARK Magician, then I can release 1 monster I control and draw 2 cards. I relase THE Tricky!"

Grabbing his Deck, Yugi then pulled two more cards from the top while his smaller magician disappeared, before holding one up and revealing it. "I activate Emblem of Dragon Destroyer, and add 1 Buster Blader from my Deck to my hand!" Grabbing the top card of his Deck, he then held it up with his other drawn card and smirked, adding, "I fuse Buster Blader and Black Magician!"

With the cards now together, the purple magician was joined by a grey-armoured monster with a massive blade, both of which jumped up into the sky and swirled together. "Fusion Summon! Come forth, Super Magical Swordsman – Blank Paladin (ATK: 2900, LV: 8)!" Emerging from the swirls, a taller, many and gold-clad magician arose, one with scars under his eyes and a massive bladed staff in his hands.

"The effect of Black Paladin increases its ATK by 500 points for every Dragon on the field and in any Cemetery. At this moment, you're supplying 4 Dragons Paradox, so that's 2000 Points extra (ATK: 4900)! Battle, destroy Sin Red Daemon's Dragon!" With the other two looking on in triumph, Yugi sent his blade-wielding magician straight at Paradox's monster, but instead of growling the bond duellist smiled.

"As usual, your pride has lead you into a dead end, one from which you cannot escape this time. Trap card open: Sin Shackle! When Sin World is face-up on the field, I select an opponent's monster and equip it with this card. That monster loses its effect and cannot attack, and I recover Life Points equal to any ATK it loses."

"But then… with my monster's effect negated, you would gain back the 2000 Life Points you lost…" Yugi realized, just before a beam of energy shot off of the trap card and struck his monster. Over its face the form of the Sin mask appeared, with chains of energy streaming off it and binding the monster's limbs, forcing it to slowly sink down to the ground.

Yugi: LP 2700

Judai: LP 2000

Yusei: LP 2300

Paradox: LP 7100

"Damn it," Judai cursed under his breath. "With Yugi's monster stuck like that, it loses its effect to negate Magic Cards as well. That means it's a sitting duck, which Paradox can do to whatever he wants."

"I change Alpha back to Defence Position (DEF: 1700)," Yugi said angrily, looking up at Paradox with a face both of hatred and defeat. "With my other cards in my hand, I end my turn."

"It's alright Yugi," Judai said over to the Legendary duellist, trying to keep him calm. "I'll make sure to deal Paradox some damage. Draw!" With the new card firmly in his hand, he pointed t one already set on his field and declared, "I equip my set Neos Force to Neos, increasing its power by 800 points (ATK: 3300)!" With this card up, a golden glow formed around the warrior, one which made it let out a battle cry towards the snarling dragon.

"And next, the monster destroyed by Neos will hgave its AK deducted from the opponent's Life Points, meaning they lose the full brunt of my attacking power. Go, Neos! Strike down that shadow of a monster!" Responding to its command, the white glowing warrior jumped forwards at the target dragon and blasted straight through it, causing it to explode dramatically before the shockwave struck Paradox and caused him to grumble from the shock of it.

Yugi: LP 2700

Judai: LP 2000

Yusei: LP 2300

Paradox: LP 3800

"Do you understand yet, Paradox?" Judai questioned hostilely and with a snide glare, watching as his monster returned to his side. Reaching for the card in his magic & Trap Zone, he slid it into his Deck and said, "In the End Phase, Neos Force returns itself to the Deck; and with it gone, Neos loses his power bonus (ATK: 2500). I end my turn here. Get him, Yusei."

"Right," Yusei responded, not truly understanding the nature of Judai's extreme hostility but going along with it as he pulled a card from his Deck. Looking at it, he quickly grabbed one from his hand into the same fingers, sliding it into the Cemetery slot. "I send Massive Warrior from my hand to the Cemetery to Special Summon Quick Synchron (ATK: 700, LV: 5)."

With the card now in the Cemetery, Yusei held up the other one and produced the blue cowboy-like machine warrior, guns drawn and at the ready as a card slid from his Cemetery and into his hand. "Next, I activate the effect of the Bolt Hedgehog I discarded earlier; and since I control a Tuner Monster, I can Special Summon it (ATK: 800, LV: 2)."

Instantly, the form of the brown, bolt-riddled furry creature joined the machine beside Yusei, snarling at Paradox in a pathetic but spunky manner; and then, he took a card from his hand and held it up, before slapping it into the tray. "Next, I Normal Summon Cluster Pendulum (ATK: 100, LV: 1)." Instantly a monster with gear-like spokes around a clock face, complete with a pendulum body with two arms, appeared between the other two.

"I'm Tuning my Level 5 Quick Synchron, as Road Synchron, to my Level 2 Bolt Hedgehog and my Level 1 Cluster Pendulum!" Lighting up the projectors on its body, the cowboy warrior produced the spinning image of several monster cards, one of which it shot before leaping up into the air. Changing into 5 green rings, the monster encompassed the other two monsters to produce three white starts, which formed a column of light.

"The clustering hopes shall now evoke a new horizon," Yusei chanted, holding up a white-bordered card before slapping it into the tray. "Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Dash onward, Road Warrior (ATK: 3000, LV: 8)!" Standing behind Yusei with its arms crossed, a tall warrior clad in yellow armour emerged, a launcher on its back much like a section of road.

"Due to the effect of Cluster Pendulum, I can draw a card when it becomes a Synchro Material Monster," he then added, pulling a new card from his Deck before a second one slid from his Deck into his grasp. "And next, due to Road Warrior's effect, I can call upon a Level 2 or lower Warrior or Machine. Cone, Speed Warrior (ATK: 900, LV: 2)!" Yusei then called forth his grey, brown and green-clad warrior with a fighter jet's air mask and rollerblades, standing at the ready.

"Am impressive show of force, and one that would be lethal to me," Paradox noted, pointing at a set card before him. "But once again, you've lost the decisive chance to defeat me because of my cards. Trap Card Open: Sin Neutralize! Because your monster's points total 2000 greater than my Life Points, and I control no monsters, I skip the Battle Phase and draw 1 card for every monster you control." Grabbing his Deck, Paradox pulled 3 cards and placed them into his hand, sneering at Yusei as he did so.

"Then I guess there's nothing further for me to do this turn," Yusei replied half-heartedly, disappointed that he was once again unable to damage Paradox critically. Grabbing the card he had just pulled, he slotted it into a tray while he said, "I set one card and end my turn." _"That Paradox keeps negating our attacks, and refilling his hand so he can unleash his monsters… he just may have the perfect combo…"_

"Then let the madness continue," Paradox goaded, his Deck again letting off an aura of blackness and materializing a card into his left hand. Then, reaching into his hand, he grabbed one of the cards he had pulled and placed it into one of his own slots, declaring, "I activate Sin Repent! By returning the five Sins and all their normal forms to the Deck, I draw 3 cards."

Moving his hand down to his Cemetery slot, Paradox let the four monsters that remained there slide into his hand, holding them up to show the others. Immediately after that the six excluded cards also joined his hand, where he slid them into his Deck. After they were automatically shuffled, the top three cards were dispensed and he picked them up, a malicious smile over his face.

"Next, I shall exclude Black Rose Dragon from my Extra Deck, and summon the servant of Lust…" The card then immediately rose up from his Duel Disc, becoming infected by the black aura as had the others before it; and immediately thereafter, the monsters on it appeared, with its wings and face covered by the armoured mask (ATK: 2400, LV: 7). Looking upon its form closely, Judai could see the glowing red lines along its form; though darkened from before, he recognized them well.

"That's Kanako's spirit!" he yelled aloud, raising his fist and shaking it angrily. "You won't be satisfied until every single one of our friends is your little demented puppet on a string, will you?" Looking down upon him, the eyes on the mask of the dragon glowed the same dark red as the lines, the monster recognizing Judai and letting out a sympathetic growl to match.

"When Black Rose Dragon is Special Summoned, I can destroy all cards on the field save for a Field Magic Card. Go, Darkened Gale!" Suddenly changing its tone to a powerful roar, the dragon raised its head back winds and whipped up a frenzied storm of rose petals, blasting around in all directions before Yusei grabbed the card off his own tray.

"You still don't get it, do you?" Yusei then asked, placing his Dragon's card into the Cemetery. "I use Stardust's effect, and stop this madness now! Victim Sanctuary!" Letting out its characteristic shriek, the white dragon then shot upwards and wrapped itself around Paradox's newest servant, exploding it into a black burst of matter before likewise disintegrating into white stardust.

"Does it feel good, Yusei?" Paradox questioned, looking smugly as he questioned an increasingly-frustrated Yusei. "Do you enjoy the feeling of destroying the cards of your own friends, crushing their spirits and reducing them to dust? You're perhaps one of the most sin-latent people I have ever met. You truly are your father's son; after all, just as he brought destruction to your city, you see fit to destroy everyone around you as well…"

"Stop it!" Yusei pleaded, tears starting to form out of the corners of his eyes as the painful memories of his father and Zero Reverse came back into his mind. With his voice growing shaky and his body starting to tremble, he choked out, "Please, please just stop this! Don't you understand that humans try to fix their mistakes, that they can evolve?"

"Yes, yes they can Yusei," Paradox responded judgmentally, raising himself from his down-gazing pose into a straight standing one. "The problem is that no matter how much effort humans put into changing and evolving, atoning and forgiving, they can never succeed; and because of that, humans make the Apocalypse unavoidable."

"That's a lie!" Yugi challenged back, Yusei trying hard to regain his composure from the torturous memories. "Humans can always change their future! I have seen it done countless times before, and it will continue to be done!"

"Except none of that will ever save you all from extinction. One day, humanity will have committed such atrocities that your societies filled with whores, politicians and hired guns shall be drowning in their own spilled blood in the streets, crying up to heaven for someone to save them. And God shall whisper down to them, 'No'; and when they turn to me, I shall tell them exactly what they need to hear: 'Go to hell'."

"You're nothing but a sick, sociopathic bastard," Yusei hissed, his angry eyes glossy from tears. "I refuse to let you continue this sick game continue unchecked. I'll sooner take my own life than let you continue this morbid Russian Roulette with the fate of this world."

"Then let the fun continue," Paradox sneered, holding up a card and placing it into the tray. "Because now, the sins of your own nature shall come to light. From my Extra Deck, I shall exclude Stardust Dragon…"

"You're lying!" Except, as Yusei and the others were quickly surprised to see, the card which appeared before them was identical to Yusei's; except, as they were quick to note, and (for Yusei and Judai) horrified to see, its name was written in red, denoting its true origin. "No… you, to Taiyou… you bastard!"

"Be paid the price for his sins and for his interference in the ultimate fate of this world," Paradox noted, justifying his actions as best he could. "Now, his servant has become mine; and the loss of one of the few souls worth sparing shall become the fuel of this dark beast."

The card then became covered in the black aura of before, the form of the dragon on the card (complete with similar red lines to the last one) came into view; and after that, the form of the Sin mask took its place over the creature's face, complete with the armour over its wings, its shoulders, and a corset-like section over its torso (ATK: 2500, LV: 8).

"This monsters is steeped with so much sinfulness and hatred, that is barely recognizes its former self," Paradox noted, followed by the dragon letting out a growl that sounded nothing like its former self's did; much more guttural, distorted, malicious. "This monsters is steeped in Pride, Wrath, Envy… and all of these stem not from its host, Yusei, but from you…"

Watching Yusei's wide-eyed expression, Paradox elaborated. "This monster may be the servant of Taiyou, but it is linked to your own dragon in a way that gives it access to your sinful nature. You are a prideful and selfish man, one who would shun his friends and would rather fight alone because he is jealous of them; after all, they do not have blood on their hands…"

Watching Yusei tremble, Paradox took another card from his hand and placed it onto the tray, declaring, "Next, I Normal Summon Sin Parallel Gear (ATK: 800, LV: 2)!" Appearing in the shadow of the dragon's wings, the form of the small, robotic entity formed from a series of gears took form, the significance of the monster hitting Yusei just as hard as everything else.

"Behold, Yusei, the product of your father's labour: the Planetary Gear, a device capable of generating infinite energy. The pity is that, as your father discovered all-too-late, this device can create infinite destruction. Your father's creation started man down the blind path that caused them to destroy everything; and for that reason, you are the one I despise more than anyone else."

"Yusei's not responsible for the actions of his father!" Yugi responded angrily, looking up at Paradox with even greater hatred than ever in his eyes while Yusei could barely hold himself on his feet, shaking so violently from the guilt searing at his soul. "You stand here before us now, trying to poison our wills and make us grovel before you. Even Placido was more respectful; you're nothing but his pathetic shadow, a cheap imitation of a truly-powerful being!"

"You… DARE…!" Paradox suddenly snapped, his right eye twitching while he clenched his fist in absolute rage, snarling almost inhumanly. "That's it… Mutou Yugi, you've earned the right to be the first of the Legendary Duellists I trample under foot…! I tune my Level 2 Sin Parallel Gera to my Level 8 Sin Stardust Dragon!"

Immediately, the two gears on the small monster began spinning, until they dislodged and the rest of the monster shattered; then, the gears changed into green rings and rose high into the air. The dragon, snarling as it did, soared up into them and changed into eight white orbs, which formed a vertical column of light.

"Born from the threshold of the Dimension of Darkness," Paradox chanted, raising his arms and looking to the sky, "The time has come to lower the curtain on the stage of destruction! Synchro Summon! Destroy all, Sin Paradox Dragon (ATK: 4000, LV: 10)!" Exploding from the right, two massive wings formed of black and white metal and with sectioned edges formed, which were larger than anything Paradox has previously conjured.

Immediately the card for this monster appeared into Paradox's hand and he threw it onto the tray, causing it to take its true form out of the light. A black, grey and white metal monstrosity with a mask-like face bearing glowing red eyes, a long tail with a triangular lobe to it, and three-jointed legs, the dragon's snarl caused an echo and a shockwave that nearly deafened the group and cracked the ground; and as all three duellists could sense, something was very, very wrong with this occurrence…

Standing on the top of the Arc Cradle, Alessandro's cloak flapped in the breeze as he gazed down upon the city below. Lit up by the orange glow emanating off the device, his solemn face gained an even more ominous meaning from his perspective, watching the city below slowly being reduced to matter being absorbed by this inhuman construct.

Looking around him, he marvelled at just how strange and unearthly this object's design was. It had consisted of a top-like object surrounded by two spiralling arms, the latter of which had fallen off; its lower edges were jagged and uneven, constructed of twisted steel and concrete; and along its roof, a structure like a microcosm of the fortress could be found, panels along it letting off a neon rainbow glow.

Without warning, though, Alessandro's thoughts were interrupted by a strange and sudden gust of wind from above, far above; and then his gaze shifted skyward, where he could not believe what he was seeing. Slowly, and seemingly without cause, cracks began to form seemingly along the very dimension of the sky, with a glowing purple edge to them.

"Yo, El Jefé!" the man suddenly yelled to the air, causing Jose himself to suddenly appear beside Alessandro in a burst of orange light. Pointing up to the sky, Alessandro's arm indicated the spreading cracks, which Jose found similarly troubling based on the low grumble he let out. "This is Paradox's work, I just know it is!"

By the time the cracks had stopped spreading, they expanded far beyond the borders of the city and the Satellite; and from these glowing cracks, particles of purple energy started to form and sprinkle downwards towards the Arc Cradle, where they started to get absorbed into the red aura just as the green matter was from below.

"The ruined future from which Paradox and our master hail is steeped in spill-over radiation from the total destruction of the Global Momentum Network," Jose explained, explaining the purple energy that was leaking downwards and gradually flowing faster. "Paradox must have somehow punched cracks in the timeline; and if he punches any harder, our two worlds shall no longer be divided."

"When two planets come into contact with each other, their atmospheres become merged from the effects of gravity; but in doing so, both of them are irreparably changed," Alessandro noted. "This lunatic is going to cause permanent and catastrophic damage to both this world and the one is dwells in. Not only will he ruin our plans, he will destroy all of Ylaidus' creation."

"We have to put our faith in His will," Jose responded, the flow of the energy now so fast that the Arc Cradle had stopped absorbing the city altogether. "For the time, the irony is that Paradox's plan meshes perfectly with our own; his reality's Momentum energy will revive the Arc Cradle far faster than this city every could…"

"What have you done?" Judai questioned, looking down at the red aura that was emanating through the cracks in the ground, with every slowly bleeding from their surroundings and flowing into the cracks. "That hole doesn't just lead into the earth, does it? That leads back in time, to our world!"

"The concentration of Momentum energy in this time is so high that it was toxic to all those who were fortunate enough to survive the initial explosion, few as those were," Paradox answered. "By the time this duel is over, that radiation will have poisoned Neo Domino City; and then Momentum shall 'accidentally explode', raising awareness of the dangers of this technology."

"You bastard!" Yusei snapped, his teary eyes finally giving way to a bloodshot and enraged stare. "You're just satisfied to destroy an entire city? I though you said yourself that even that wouldn't' be enough; or are you so sadistic that you're doing this for kicks?"

"Should my efforts fail, I do have a backup plan, Paradox responded, adding to the dark tone. "I am prepared to punch a full-on hole into that reality; and then, the temporal disturbance shall do exactly as matter and antimatter do. Neo Domino City and my world at this point shall be erased from existence…"

Before anybody even had a chance to respond, Paradox added, "I activate Sin Paradox Dragon's effect. When this card is Synchro Summoned, I can Special Summon 1 removed from play Synchro Monster, ignoring its summoning conditions; then, one monster my opponent control loses ATK equal to its own powers. Return to me, Stardust Dragon (ATK: 2500, LV: 8)!"

"NO!" Yusei screamed at the top of his lungs, watching as a black void opened beside Paradox's dragon, through which the red-lined version of his signature dragon appeared, folding up its arms and wings before turning blue. Then, the gaze of the gigantic monster before Paradox shifted to Yugi's monster.

"Next, I shall have Black Paladin lose the power of my summoned dragon (ATK: 400)," Paradox added, watching as Yugi looked on in total shock. "Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee. I attack with Sin Paradox Dragon!" Roaring, the dragon flexed its jaws until the mask over its face shattered, a double row of teeth being shown in its mouth.

"I activate a Permanent Trap Card, Legacy Inherit!" Yugi responded, just before a blast of energy from the jaws of the monster shot straight at Yugi's monster, catching it in the fires before exploding the monster in his face. Yugi similarly was consumed in the firs just afterwards, leaving Yusei and Judai powerless to stop have.

However, both of them were pleased, and Paradox angered, to discover that after the blast Yugi was still standing there, unshaken, with the transparent form of Maenou surrounding him like a shield. Seconds later, the form of the being disappeared off of him, along with the false Millennium Puzzle; and Yugi looked back up at Paradox, his face still full of conviction.

"I may no longer have any Life Points," he responded, "but I'm far from completing my part in this game! Due to the effect of Legacy Inherit, it remains on the field under a new controller's power by releasing a monster, THE Tricky, be gone!" The monster in front of Yugi then disappeared in a white glow of sparkles as he threw the card into his Cemetery, before pulling out his Deck.

"Next, I am allowed to set one Magic or Trap card from my Deck that my partners are allowed to use," he explained, taking a card and jamming it into the back row of his Duel Disc, which at this point was still active. "And finally, when a player's Life Points hit 0 from a battle, half the Original ATK of the loser's monster is added to his partners' Life Points!"

Yugi: LP 0

Judai: LP 3450

Yusei: LP 3750

Paradox: LP 3800

"Paradox! Let me make one thing clear to you!" With Paradox now looking down in annoyance at the two opponents who remained, and even the one now gone. "Your little head games are through poisoning our resolve! Not one of us will stop until you and your twisted doomsday prophecy are silenced!"

"You know not of what you speak!" Paradox responded, looking into his hand and grabbing two cards. "I shall set these two face-down! In the End Phase, Yusei's Stardust Dragon revives ATK: 2500, LV: 8)!" In a shower of white light, Yusei's dragon took form again and screeched, looking its counterpart in the eyes and letting out a sympathetic growl.

"No, his words are as true as any ever spoken!" Judai yelled, his eyes quickly cycling from his golden eyes to his own brown eyes and finally to his Yubel eyes, before her spirit appeared alongside him. "The power of that card Yugi used, the one he left us, the Life Points he sacrificed himself to give us… those are proof of our bonds!"

Straightening up, Yusei also looked up to Paradox, his tone and form finally growing calm and steady, and he added, "This is the power of Bonds, Paradox! As long as even one of us stands before you, we all do so; and even with Yugi now out of the game, his will lives on in us! Your turns are numbered!"

"Then place your cards where your mouths are!" Paradox shot down to the three duellists before him, who responded by shifting their stances to defensive ones that showed their readiness to take on anything that came at them. "The fight shall only get worse from here on out, and I take no mercy for the sake of this world."

"And neither shall we!" Judai retorted, placing his hand over his chest. "For if there is a time when this world's future comes under threat, when all is approaching ruin, then we shall be there. None of us has ever stopped fighting for our futures; and as Yugi said, we shall not start. Together, we will create a new and better future for everyone!"

"Those souls which you coveted and put to work as your servants shall be set free," Yusei added, noting the monster still on Paradox's field. "Whether it costs us our lives, whether it takes 10 millennia, whether we lose our existence to time; we shall make right all that all the tragedies of humanity's mistakes, one by one!"

**Card of the Chapter – Paradox**

**Sin Destruction Dragon Gandora**

**DARK**

**Level: **8

**Family: **[Dragon/Effect]

**Effect: **This card cannot be Normal Summoned or set. This card cannot be Special Summoned other than by excluding 1 [Destruction Dragon Gandora] from your Deck. Once per turn, you can pay 2000 Life Points to destroy and remove from play all cards on the field other than a Field Magic Card. There can only be 1 face-up [Sin] Monster on the field. Other monsters you control cannot declare an attack. If there is no face-up Field Magic Card, destroy this card.

**ATK/ **0

**DEF/ **0

*Yes, I just committed the Yu-Gi-Oh Taboo. Yugi lost. Who shall be next? Review if you wish.*


	4. That Beast Which Dwells Inside

**Disclaimer**: The following piece is in no way a claim to ownership of the depicted characters. Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh R, Yu-Gi-Oh GX and Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's are owned by TV Tokyo, Konami Corporation and Kazuki Takahashi. The song with which this story shares its name is the property of Dutch Metal Band 'Within Temptation'; the name is used here solely for the poetic nature of such a reference. This story as presented is strictly for entertainment purposes, both for its owner and readers.

**Chapter 4 – That Beast Which Dwells Inside, Sin Truth Dragon**

Rising out of the chasm which had formed from the explosion of the Old Momentum, Kyojo's right hand grabbed hold of the rock face, followed by his left hand; and shortly after that, the man pulled himself up over the edge, getting ton his feet right away. Turning back to the rock face, he squatted and reached his hand down, pulling Yusuriha up out of the chasm and onto her own feet.

Once they had gained a foothold on the rock edge, the attention of the two Summoners was immediately drawn in by the sound of a high-pitched electrical hum; turning their heads towards Neo Domino City, they beheld the chaos which had unfolded a short time ago, as well as its aftermath, and both were speechless at what they saw.

In the sky just above the Public Security Maintenance Bureau's main Building and the Tops area, the cracks which had formed in the sky were casting down a neon curtain of light, flickering and changing colours while illuminating everything below them with their eerie glow. Below that, the Arc Cradle, glowing bright red, seemed to be absorbing the very edges of the light; and the sky below it was filled with green particles of light, no larger than fireflies at that distance.

"The end of the world has finally begun, and at the hands of the Japanese Government no less," a deep, solemn voice suddenly issued from behind the two, making them both turn and face three very unusual-looking figures behind them. The three were all clad in brown cloaks over what appeared to be a mix of chain- and plate-mail, complete with claymore swords at their waists.

"Who exactly… are you three…?" Yusuriha questioned, before noting a very important detail and suddenly gaining realization. While all three had their faces hidden by their hoods, each one had a stone amulet on a chain with a different-coloured gem on them; and each one resembled a ceremonial hammer with a short handle. "Those pendants… Mjöllnir? You three are Odinists."

"Indeed, my dear Summoner," the first and apparent leader of the men stated, the middle of the three in height and the original speaker whose amulet gem was yellow. Pulling back his hood, he revealed very light cyan hair which was of waist length, curved into a fine spiked shape; and his golden eyes looked back at the two with the conviction of an ancient warrior, having lived countless battles. "We are of the High Odinist Order. I am the leader of this Council, Harald."

The next of the man, who was the tallest and whose gem was blue, then pulled back his own hood to reveal a much more rugged face, complete with dark green eyes and short black hair with orange highlights. "I am one of the two Sub-Commanders, Dragan; and it is an honour to meet with the both of you."

Finally, the third and shortest man with the red gem pulled back his own hood, revealing the young and cheerful face of someone aged 20 at the very most. His hair was dyed into the colours of flames, and styled to match; and with it, a pair of piercing blue eyes that reflected his seeming innocence. "I am the other of the two Sub-Commanders, Brave."

"You three know about what's been going on with Yliaster and that… that thing over there?" Kyojo suddenly questioned, pointing to the Arc Cradle and watching the three reply with knowing nods. "And furthermore, you know about our statuses as Summoners."

"It is only proper that we keep informed on the particulars of a mission," Harald explained, looking the two firmly in the eyes. "By the will of the Aesir that has been entrusted to us by the Gods themselves, we have been beseeched to aid you in your fight against this chaos, before a second Ragnarök comes into being. O Summoners, let us bring you back to thy place beside thy friends, and take up arms alongside thee as thy brothers in arms."

Having said this, all three of the men got down into their right knee, heads bowed, and drew all of their swords in unison, crossing them. Taking only a brief second to marvel at the eccentricities of these men, Yusuriha was quick to say, "Very well. To combat an enemy as powerful as Yliaster, we shall need all the warriors we can muster."

Kyojo, on the other hand, did not answer right away; instead, pulling his sunglasses back over his face, he gazed down and pulled out Taiyou's mask which he had left behind. _"It was always you and me, buddy… Now, I will fight to the bitter end in your memory, no matter the cost…"_ Finally, Kyojo looked back to the three men and said to them in English, "Rock and roll!"

With his hand gripping onto the top card of his Deck as though it was his lifeline, Judai closed his eyes for only a passing second before snapping up the card from the top of his Deck, not speaking at all until he saw the card. When he did, he placed the card already in his hand beside that one, and held them both up for Yusei and Paradox to see.

"I activate Fusion!" he then stated, a swirling vortex appearing behind him that his white warrior jumped up towards."I send by face-up Neos and the Edgeman in my hand to the Cemetery, and Summon Elemental Hero… Neos Knight (ATK: 2500, LV: 7)!" Beside his white warrior, Judai's classic golden warrior emerged and the two fused together, spawning a sword-wielding warrior much like the white one.

"Summoning a monster with a mere 2500 points for 3 cards?" Paradox questioned, observing the monster with a touch of smugness. "Such tactics are what cost Yugi his presence in this game; and even should you escape that fate, your monster is powerless before Sin Paradox Dragon." Indicating the God-sized grey dragon behind him, Paradox then sneered darkly and added, "What will you do, Yuki Judai?"

"I'll fight until the last drop of my blood spills into the sands beneath my feet," Judai answered, his tone and face becoming darkly confident. "Neos Knight's monster effect: it gains ATK equal to half the power of the Material Monster that isn't Neos, meaning 1300 points extra for its ATK (ATK: 3800). Go, Neos Knight, attack Stardust Dragon! Sword of Neos!"

Grunting loudly, the monster shot upwards into the air and swung the blade of its sword towards the white dragon in front of Paradox, slicing it in half vertically and forming a line of neon energy that exploded shortly thereafter, along with the monster. _"May your spirit be free, Stardust… Taiyou…"_ "Neos Knight inflicts no battle damage against an opponent's monster. I end my turn."

"Then it's my turn," Yusei responded, reaching for his Deck and snapping the card out with his fully-extended arm, before his golden-armoured warrior picked up the launcher from its back and hoisted it high. "I activate the effect of Road Warrior! Once per turn, I Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower Machine-Type Monster from my Deck. Come out, Nitro Synchron (ATK: 300, LV: 2)!"

With its contraption held high, the warrior launched a beam of light which released the form of the small mechanical monster, whose body resembled a gas cylinder with limbs and a face. "I tune my Level 2 Nitro Synchron to my Level 2 Speed Warrior!" Still in the air, the dial on the gas cylinder rose to maximum pressure, at which point the monster changed into two green rings. The smaller warrior them jumped up into these, turning into two white orbs.

"Synchro Summon, Arms Aid (ATK: 1800, LV: 4)!" When the white orbs aligned inside the rings, they erupted into a column of light, from which the form of the gigantic mechanical arm appeared, flexing its hand as it did so. "Next, I activate the effect of my Arms Aid, and equip it to my Road Warrior (ATK: 4000)." Instantly, the form of the arms split into its individual components, which came together around one arm of the gold warrior to give it a huge metal gauntlet.

"Your monster's ATK is the same as Sin Paradox Dragon, is it?" Paradox questioned, looking down upon the monster with an almost contempt-ridden look. "I take it then you'll attack my monster with yours, then attack my Life Points directly with Stardust?"

"Think again," Yusei added, flipping around the card he had drawn at the start of his turn before slapping it onto his card tray. "I activate Synchro Unity! During this turn, one face-up monster I control gains 500 ATK for each of my Synchro Monsters; and right now, that's 2 (ATK: 5000). However, during this turn, no other monster I control can attack; but when a monster equipped with Arms Aid destroys an opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the Cemetery, my opponent takes damage equal to that monster's ATK. Battle!"

Its eyes flashing, the golden warrior leapt up into the air and lunged at the dragon, its clawed arm extended while it closed in on its target. "You still don't understand, do you Yusei?" Paradox scorned, sneering darkly. "So long as you try and bash your way through my Sin Deck, there is no chance for success. Trap card Open: Sin Purge!"

With Yusei and Judai both becoming stunned, Paradox held up his hand in a clawed pose and his face twisted into a nightmarish, snarling grin, explaining, "When my opponent selects a Sin Monster as an attack target, I have the attacking monster lose power equal to the Level of my Sin Monster times 200; then, I recover as many Life Points!" The beam from the Trap card then struck the yellow warrior (ATK: 3000), before the jaws of the dragon exploded open just in time to close down on the monster's body, exploding it.

Judai: LP 3450

Yusei: LP 2750

Paradox: LP 8700

"No matter how hard you try and struggle, your folly is pointless," Paradox stated, his clenched fist becoming lined with the burning aura of blackness while his tone grew dark and hostile. "The human soul is bathed in hatred and darkness, with no resolve save for fulfilling their own selfish needs. Erasing your pitiful race shall be my pleasure."

"_I need to draw something better for dealing with his monster soon, or we'll get shredded in the coming turns." _"I end my turn," Yusei finally said aloud, looking over to Judai out of the corners of his eyes. _"I just have to hope that Judai has the ability to preserve us for a round; if we lose another of our own, there's no way Paradox can be felled."_

"Then let the fun continue," Paradox jeered, grabbing the top card of his Deck. "It's my turn." Snapping up the top card of his Deck, he immediately slapped it onto the tray of his Duel Disc without looking at it, saying, "I activate Life-Shaving Card Treasure." Immediately Paradox took the card from his hand and inserted it into his Cemetery slot, then pulled a few cards from his Deck until he held 5 in his hand.

Sneering confidently, the blond man then pulled one of the cards and held it up with his fully-extended arm between his index and middle fingers. "Next, I shall exclude Red-Eyes Black Dragon from my Deck to call upon an embodiment of Envy." Then, his tone shifted to a dramatic yell as the card he named was ejected from his Deck, being infected by the same black fog. "Sin Red-Eyes, rise up (ATK: 2400, LV: 7)!"

Flipping around, the card was revealed to be of a very specific artwork for a mere split second before the aura overtook it completely, while Paradox took the card in his hand and slapped it onto the tray, rainbow electricity arcing upwards. The blackness then condensed like a black hole before exploding into the form of the black dragon depicted on the card, complete with armoured wings and a mask that covered its whole face save for its right eye.

"That card… that's Fubuki's Red-Eyes!" Judai stammered out, his eyes going wide at the realization before snapping back into his angry glare. Yugi was immediately overcome by a mixed emotion; though he was relieved that Jonouchi had been spared, he was struck by a burning guilt that somebody else had to suffer for that luxury.

"The servant of Tenjouin Fubuki was the first of my Sin Monsters I captured, and the one whose power I then used to capture Kaiba's power," Paradox explained, narrowing his right eye while expanding his left one much wider and smiling in a way that expanded his mouth. "Now its power shall help bring you to your knees, Legendary Duellists!"

"That servant of Fubuki's doesn't have the attack power to deal with my Stardust Dragon," Yusei declared confidently, indicating his white dragon as it screeched out challengingly towards its black counterpart. _"Except that Paradox's own monster is more than capable; if Judai doesn't have my back here, I'm done for in this Battle Phase."_

"It's time I finally removed the thorn from my side," Paradox issued, pointing his extended fingers towards Yusei in a gesture mocking Judai's signature pose. "Disappear forever into the depths of Judecca! I attack Stardust Dragon with Sin Paradox Dragon!" Rearing back its head, the largest dragon on the field immediately flexed its jaws, opening the already-cracked mouth and beginning to form a fireball in its jaws, a shockwave of wind already forming.

"I won't allow this assault on my friend to continue, Paradox!" Judai responded, pointing to his own set card as it flipped up to reveal itself, shocking Paradox and his teammates alike. "Instant Magic: Dimensional Induced Explosion! By returning my Neos Knight to the Extra Deck, all players may Special Summon up to 2 excluded monsters! Return: Neos (ATK: 2500, LV: 7) and Edgeman (ATK: 2600, LV: 7)!"

The sword-wielding monster on Judai's field them disappeared and changed into a beam of light, which shot up above their heads and formed a white and blue portal. Through that portal, Judai's white and gold warriors then emerged, then cards reappearing in Judai's hand to he could slap them onto the tray. Likewise, the normal version of Paradox's black dragon appeared and shot down to his field, where he likewise materialized its card and slapped it down (ATK: 2400, LV: 7), along with Yusei's small rodent creature (DEF: 800, LV: 2).

"Since there is a Sin Monster on my field, Red-Eyes Black Dragon cannot declare an attack," Paradox explained, a black aura appearing at its feet that wrapped it in the same chains as his Dragon from the previous turn. "However, your move has yet to halt my attack, and so I continue my strike towards Stardust Dragon! Take this, Yusei!"

"Don't be so sure," Judai then shot back, a confident sneer cresting his face as he indicated his other set card. "Trap Card Open: Edge Hammer! By releasing Edgeman, I destroy Sin Paradox Dragon and inflict damage equal to its ATK onto your Life Points, Paradox!" Growling angrily, the golden warrior then began to glow in a crimson aura before shooting straight at Paradox's monster; but before it could reach its target, Paradox likewise flipped a set card.

"Counter Trap: Sin Shot! By releasing one of my monsters, I negate a destruction effect and end this turn's Battle Phase! I send Red-Eyes back to the Cemetery!" Roaring out a pained howl, the chained-up dragon then changed into a black energy beam that shot straight at the golden warrior, striking it and causing it to explode violently.

"Then, I recover Life Points equal to the ATK of the Released monster, and I draw 1 card as well." Reaching for his Deck, Paradox pulled a single card from his Deck as the dust from the exploding creatures flowed over to his position, where it rained upon him and produced a blue aura that increased his Life dramatically.

Judai: LP 3450

Yusei: LP 2750

Paradox: LP 11100

"Thanks to this effect, I can no longer declare an attack with my monsters," Paradox deduced half-heartedly, a tinge of annoyance growing in his face as he realized what Judai's aim had been. "In my Main Phase 2, I set 3 cards." With each of the three cards appearing in a right-to-left sweep in front of him, Paradox then looked down and declared, "I end my turn."

"_Yusei and Judai are both having to dodge bullets for this duel," _Yugi noted, his worried demeanour very evident across his face_. "Every turn this duel, they have had to use valuable cards just to protect themselves from his power; and every time they try to damage his Life, he simply recovers his Life Points higher…"_

"Draw!" Judai then said, extending his drawn card with his arm all the way to the right before slapping it straight onto the tray. "I activate the Magic Card, Spellbooks of the Pot!" With that card now out there, every player reached for the top of their deck and pulled 3 cards, placing them into their hand. Immediately after that, Judai spun one of the drawn cards around.

"I activate the effect of Stargazing Beast Garris," he explained, holding it between his index and middle fingers while reaching for the top of his Deck with the other two. "If the top card of my Deck is a monster, I Special Summon Garris and inflict damage to my opponent equal to that monster's level multiplied by 200."

Reaching for the top card of his Deck, Judai then closed his eyes and drew the card swiftly, opening his eyes to gaze upon it. Smiling, he then held up the card, a familiar one, and reached for the Cemetery slot of his Duel Disc. "My top card was Yubel. Thus, Garris is Special Summoned (DEF: 800, LV: 3)…!"

Immediately to the left of Judai's powerful monster, a monster with a brown-furred four-legged body immediately arose, armoured in blue metal which gave it a gryphon-like appearance. Two wing-like structures on its back then folded together and formed a sparking orange orb, which shot forwards at Paradox. "…And I'll have you take 2000 damage!"

"You still haven't learned your lesson," Paradox scorned, making Judai cringe and grunt as he flipped up a card set on his field. "Trap Card Open: Sin Mirage! When an opponent activates an effect to damage my Life Points, I negate that damage and recover twice as many Life Points as that damage!" The card then shot a beam of black energy that shot straight towards the orb, exploding it into dust which Paradox absorbed into his body.

Judai: LP 3450

Yusei: LP 2750

Paradox: LP 15100

"His life is even higher than the start," Judai gasped, now incredibly flustered by these repeated thwarting of his tactics. Shaking his head immediately thereafter, he turned to Paradox's smaller dragon and said, "But still, I'll have Neos attack your Sin Red-Eyes! Wrath of Neos!" Nodding in consent, the white warrior jumped towards the black dragon and kicked at its head, sending its mask flying off and straight into paradox while the dragon itself exploded into black flames.

Judai: LP 3450

Yusei: LP 2750

Paradox: LP 15000

When the mask struck Paradox's body, it shattered like glass and caused parts of his body top once again dissolve into energy streams, which then re-condensed into a solid form as Judai pulled another card and spun it around. "From my hand I activate the Instant Magic, Neos Blast! When Neos destroys a monster by battle, I destroy one monster my opponent controls and inflict damage to my opponent equal to half of its ATK!"

"Equip Trap: Sin Force!" Paradox declared, revealing a set card which changed into a red aura around his existing dragon. "This card equips to a Sin Monster I control, and makes it unaffected by my opponent's Magic Cards!" The white warrior then shot straight towards the massive grey dragon, but simply bounced off the aura and returned to Judai's field.

"Then I set one card and end my turn!" Judai said angrily, jamming a card from his hand into a slit before Yusei reached for the top card of his Deck.

"It's my turn!" As Yusei pulled the top card of his Deck, he looked at the card that was drawn just then and those from the turn before, and was less than impressed with the results. "I summon Dead Gardna (DEF: 1900, LV:4)." From a blue portal beside the white dragon, a small humanoid in white armour appeared, floating and uttering a ghostly moan. "I end my turn."

"Then I activate the effect of Sin World," Paradox declared with his sneering face, a single card forming from blackness and floating up into his hand. "Through this effect, I add Sin Blue-Eyes White Dragon to my hand once again; and then, I shall summon Sin Blue-Eyes and Sin Red Daemon's Dragons ((ATK: 3000, LV: 8) x2)!"

The black aura which had spawned the card immediately leapt off and took the solid form of the two masked dragons, taking up a position on either side of the larger grey monster and snarling at the monsters on Yusei and Judai's fields while Paradox chuckled in a mad voice. "You've become far too annoying for me to leave along, Judai. Battle! I attack Neos with Sin Blue-Eyes! Burst Stream of Darkness!"

Rearing back its head, the white dragon then built up a ball of black electrical energy in its mouth and released it; but just as it did, the small white humanoid jumped over from Yusei's field just in front of Judai's monster. "When Dead Gardna is face-up on the field, it can become the attack target of my opponent's monster!"

As it was hit by the blast, the monster exploded into a white snow-like aura, which then flowed over and surrounded the body of the other small dragon, binding it. "And when Dead Gardna is destroyed, it lowers the ATK of an opponent's monster by 1000 until the End Phase (ATK: 2000)."

"But even so," Paradox stated, pointing at Yusei's monster again, "I still have my ultimate monster! I attack Neos with Sin Paradox Dragon!" Roaring loudly, the dragon let fly with a long stream of flames from its open mouth; but as it did so, Judai flipped up a card and another one slid from his Cemetery.

"Trap card Open: Hero's Guard! When my E-HERO Monster is attacked, I remove an E-HERO Monster in my Cemetery to negate the destruction. Then, I halve the Battle Damage and draw one card!" Immediately the blast from the attack struck and went around the white warrior and consumed Judai, causing him to howl in pain while he fell to his knees covered in black fire.

Judai: LP 2700

Yusei: LP 2750

Paradox: LP 15000

"JUDAI!" Yusei screamed in horror, his eyes going wider than even he knew possible as Judai finally stood up from the assault, panting and shaking while the flames finally extinguished. Blood began to trickle out the corner of his mouth and he found it increasingly, excruciatingly painful, but even so he shouldered the pain and quickly snapped up the card from his Deck.

"Then I set 2 cards," Paradox responded, looking down at Judai with a sadistic sneer. "Next I move to the End Phase, where the effect of Sin Red Daemon's Dragon destroys all Defence Position Monsters on the field! Darkness Meteor!" Roaring, the dragon raised both of its hands and formed black fireballs in its hands, prepared to throw them, but Yusei then held up his Dragon's card.

"I activate the effect of Stardust Dragon, and stop your monster's effect flat! Victim Sanctuary!" Roaring, the dragon opened its mouth and fired a blast of white energy at the dragon, blasting both its hands and its chest and causing the whole thing to explode. "Since it's the End Phase, Stardust Dragon immediately returns, just as if it never left the field!"

However, there was an immediate pause after Yusei's declaration when Judai did not respond with words, and so Yusei was forced to look at his friend. Both he and Yugi could see that Judai was breathing slowly, and as he reached for his Deck he slowly pulled the card from his Deck and looked at it, barely able to utter what he intended to do.

"I… I activate… Life-Shaving Card Treasure…" Weakly placing the card into his tray, he pulled a few cards from his Deck until his hand contained 5 cards, 4 of which he then grabbed and pushed into slots on his Duel Discs. "Next, I activate… I activate Element Sword… and equip it to Neos…" Immediately the form of a laser sword hilt formed in the monster's hand, and it lit up in purple.

"Battle… I attack… Sin Blue Eyes… with Neos (ATK: 3300)…" Jumping forwards, the white warrior jumped straight up and slashed through the dragon's head, making it explode into a fine black aura. "I… end my turn…" After saying this, Judai almost fell onto his side, but the form of Yubel appeared behind him and held him up, looking at him caringly and with worry.

Judai: LP 3450

Yusei: LP 2750

Paradox: LP 14700

"_Judai's take one too many hits now…"_ Yusei realized, looking at his friend as he struggled to even keep himself conscious. _"I have to end this duel as quickly as possible!"_ "It's my turn!" he then yelled, snapping it his card and then looking at it with a nuance of relief. I activate the Magic Card, Battle Waltz! I Summon a Waltz Token with the same ATK as Stardust Dragon (ATK: 2500, LV: 8)."

Immediately, the form of the card changed into a white mass of light, which then took on the form of his dragon and then screeched at Paradox, before it immediately took flight and then shot towards the grey dragon. "I attack Sin Paradox Dragon with the Waltz Token!" Responding with a surprised expression, while his dragon reared back and prepared to strike.

"Why would you ever bother to attack in such a suicidal strategy?" Paradox wondered, looking at Yusei with a look of contempt. "Is this your way of surrendering? Well very well then!" His dragon the fired its burst at the token, but it immediately dodged the burst and simply went on towards it. "What is this?"

"When the Waltz Token battles, both players take no Battle Damage from the attack," Yusei responded, watching the dragon grow closer. "And then, when it is destroyed by battle, it takes its ATK out of the monster that destroyed it! Take this!" As Paradox realized what had happened, the dragon slammed into its combatant and exploded, cracking the armour on that larger dragon and making it growl in pain (ATK: 1500).

"Then I activate an Instant Magic from my hand: Pain Drain!" As Yusei's card appeared, Judai and Yusei both looked at this card with smiles, while Paradox looked at it with an angered expression. "During this turn, the ATK lost by an opponent's monster is added to that of my existing Stardust Dragon (ATK: 5000)!"

"Yes!" Yugi said with enthusiasm unbridled. "With Yusei's latest move, he's going to deal a massive amount of Damage and bring Paradox back down past his original life!"

"Go, Stardust Dragon!" Yusei then added, his dragon taking flight and shooting into the sky far above its target. "Shooting Sonic!" With a triumphant roar, the white dragon then fired its air burst straight at the dragon in question, exploding it violently and causing Paradox's form to utterly shred into a contrail of energy flapping like a flag in the wind.

Judai: LP 2700

Yusei: LP 2750

Paradox: LP 11200

When the smoke from the explosion finally settled, Paradox's form finally began to settle back into the shape of something human, with his left eye being one of the first things to actually form as he took shape. With a growl, the regenerating being announced its return, but this expression was ultimately replaced by a dark, low chuckle. "What's so funny?" Yusei then asked loudly.

Then, Paradox's chuckling burst out into an insane laugh, bellowing in nature and with a complete lack of self-control. "You've destroyed the last thing which was chaining back my power, and now you will suffer the consequences." With Yusei and Judai now looking at Paradox, they realized exactly what he was talking about.

"The power of Sin has dyed my soul black, and created a monster within my soul. Now that monster's power will break apart the very fabric of this world, and will shred reality until nothing remains but the anguished cries of the damned! I activate my Trap Card: Sin Paradigm Shift!"

When the set card flipped up onto his field, it immediately split into three copies of itself, one for each of the primary colours, and they flew up around Paradox in a triangle formation. When they appeared around him, they dissolved into three auras and mixed together, creating a swirling chaos orb with black lighting sparking off of it.

"When Sin Paradox Dragon is destroyed, I can pay half of my Life Points to perform the ultimate Summoning," Paradox explained, his body starting to glow orange and flow into the orb. "Behold: Sin Truth Dragon!" And in an instant, the power of this orb caused an explosion of energy to shoot a column of energy to the sky and ground, with such impact that the ground exploded away from them and they started to fall into the chasm below…

From the vantage point of the ground, the group could see that the situation was rapidly becoming worse and worse. They could see the cracks along the sky very quickly expand along the fabric of the sky, until many of the cracks crossed paths and the intersecting pieces of the sky exploded onto a bright burst of light.

When the light fell away, what the group could see was beyond what they had ever expected. Along the cracks in the sky, the form of a ravine in some other world, with a ruined city and a purple starry sky. From that hole, the entire sky slowly began to convert into that same starry field; and when they looked farther to the right they could see three floating pieces of rock and a floating metallic platform with a familiar design.

"Is that… Paradox's D-Wheel?" Jack questioned in disbelief, while the field effect reached the top of the city and slowly started to convert the buildings from the top down. Looking up to the three platforms of rock, he and the others then saw that Yugi, Judai and Yusei were standing on them, facing Paradox as the chaotic aura swirled around him.

Paradox them jumped off of his D-Wheel up a fantastic height, far above the D-Wheel and its chaos orb while the energy was absorbed into the vehicle. Out the bottom of it another column of energy, this one the same chaotic effect as the energy orb which had spawned it. In an instant the orb was assimilated into the body of the D-Wheel, causing it to explode as a vortex opened up along the ground below.

"What… is all of this…?" Johan questioned, just as the cresting edge of a large, dull yellow sphere began to form inside the vortex, before it slowly began an ascension towards Paradox floating in the sky. The winds kicked up from the vortex flung hard and fast in all directions, causing the twins to start losing their footing and eventually fly backwards.

"Hang on!" Hell Kaiser yelled as he and Jack jumped quickly towards the twins, catching them in their arms and then bracing for the strong winds. As the orb rose from the ground, it became clear just how enormous the object was; in fact, it seemed only slightly smaller than the Arc Cradle floating above.

"Behold, the embodiment of my final screams to the human world!" Paradox yelled, his voice reflecting a seemingly total loss of sanity and stability. "The power of humanity's greed, hatred and vanity was enough to destroy my entire world, my family, everything I knew! Now I shall show you all the pain I have endured, and then I shall send you all to the Hell you deserve to dwell in!"

Once the orb had completely exited the rift in the ground, that vortex slowly began to close and the winds started dying down, but not before the golden object made its way up just below the platforms where the three legendary duellists were standing. A blackened, swirling aura was spilling off of the orb like flames, as long orange energy lines began to form along seemingly random patterns on the surface of the orb.

"The darkness coming from that monster… the pain and suffering he endured and the hatred he harboured…" Aki realized, her eyes going wide as the clip in her hair came loose and her long, sharpened bangs began to fly around, obscuring her eyes. "He has truly seen Hell. That Paradox has known a despair far worse than anything I have known…"

Then, with a strange, groaning roar, the outer skin of the orb seemed to break loose and separated in two halves, opening outwards and forming a pair of wings that seemed to stretch for miles. The wings of the creature were very strange, and unnerving in design; the membrane of the wings seemed to be upside-down in relation to their frame, which was almost skeletal in shape, and the joints in those wings even seemed to open inversely.

In the centre of the two massive structures, a smaller, more irregular shape could be seen, coiled up and segmented in structure, which likewise began to slowly open once the wings had taken shape. First, a long coil unfurled from around the monster's body and slowly swung into place, forming a long, hook-ended tail which jutted out from the monster's dorsal spine and was crested by six long, black spikes.

Next, a pair of long legs unfurled and stretched into place, legs with three joints and feet which seemed to be mounted backwards so that the heels stuck out forward, as indicated by the three rear-facing claws and single forward one. Spikes jutted out from the bottom of its thighs just above the knees, and while the legs were long they almost seemed too thin for the stocky body of the creature.

Finally, the neck of the creature rose up from the front of the body, revealing the diamond-shaped body to have a similar gem to the previous monster mounted on its stomach area; however, this one was red instead of yellow, reflecting the change in colour for the new creature. As the neck of the monster swung into place, it stuck up far above the area where Yugi, Judai and Yusei were standing, and hooked down to stare upon them angrily.

The head of the creature gazing down upon the trio seemed to unnerve them the most. The jaws of the creature were of equal length, with a horn extending both from its chin and its nose that were almost identical. Two triangular horns extended from above where its red eyes shone from, which were mounted directly in front of a massive pair of tusks as the back of a double-row of teeth.

Sneering and cackling madly, Paradox began to slowly descend towards the top of his monster's head, picking up speed as he fell and causing the three duellists to look on almost in terror. When he was just above the monster's forehead, his legs burst out into an orange aura and the nanite they were composed of tore away from the outer edges of the limbs, releasing two panels covered in wire outlets.

"What is he doing…?" Yusei questioned, only to be shocked and disturbed when the answer presented itself. After that he almost seemed to hover there for a second, before two very long, thin spikes shot up from the top of the creature's head and folded outwards from Paradox's legs, before several long hydraulic tubes shot out from them and plugged into the ports on his legs with a loud hissing sound.

"Sweet Zombie Jesus!" Crow yelled out in total disbelief, watching as the coils tightened and pulled the panels from the dragon's head into Paradox's legs and locked them together. Paradox's feet were then bent back to be parallel with his shins, just as segmented panels of energy began to form and go up the front and back of his legs until they extended up to his waist.

With a burst of electrical energy, the tray on Paradox's Duel Disc then exploded, along with the outer cylinder of its body, sending the cards flying in spherical patterns around his body until one of the panels extended a pair of long black spikes from just below his waist, forming a teal energy platform between them that his cards then floated down onto and locked into place.

In a burst of orange light, the individual spikes of Paradox's two long strands of hair changed into similar wire ports, attaching to more tubes which appeared from the rear and sides of his torso. Then, in a final electrical burst, the entire body of panels completely fused together, forming a spike atop the dragon's head from which Paradox protruded, much as Judai remembered Yubel had done in their final battle.

Judai: LP 2700

Yusei: LP 2750

Paradox: LP 5600

"Behold, the embodiment of my power: Sin Truth Dragon (ATK: 5000, LV: 12)!" Paradox screamed maniacally, veins forming around the edges of his face and his eyes growing bloodshot. His left eye then narrowed almost to being closed and his right eye opened as wide as it went, while the dragon let out a long, guttural roar that sent up shockwaves and terrified the people standing on the ground below. "Now, what will you do, Fudo Yusei? Yuki Judai?"

"Th… that monster is…" Yusei stammered, his face completely freezing in terror as Judai's eyes glowed in the colours of Yubel's so brightly that his pupils were obscured from view. In his own vision, he could see the same aura extending around the dragon as Paradox himself, the same aura which had spawned each and every one of their servants.

From atop the Arc Cradle, Jose and Alessandro had a similar view of Paradox and his monster to what the duellists had; as they stood amongst the glowing lights with their arms crossed and their cloaks billowing in the winds the monster generated, the solemn glares on their faces conveyed a similar level of worry to Yusei and Judai.

"Sin Truth Dragon can only be Special Summoned by the effect of Sin Paradigm Shift," Paradox revealed, the card appearing into his hand from the black aura shown. "When a Sin Monster I control destroys an opponent's monster by battle, all monsters they control are destroyed and they receive 1000 points of damage per monster. And if Sin Truth Dragon were ever to be destroyed, I exclude one Sin Monster in my Cemetery to negate that destruction." With his description done, he slammed the card onto the green energy tray in front of him before turning his attention to Yusei specifically. "Well… what will you do, Fudou Yusei?"

Looking frantically at his hand, Yusei scanned his cards for anything he could use to protect himself from the current situation; and to his complete horror, he had nothing which could at all save him. _"If that Sin Truth Dragon destroys Stardust Dragon, its effect will destroy Bolt Hedgehog and I'll lose the last of my Life Points… What do I do…?"_

Sneering and chuckling darkly, Paradox then asked in a condescending voice, "Nothing left you can do, eh? Then let the true nightmare begin. You have tasted the sins of humanity through this duel; but with Sin Truth Dragon, I will feed you the hatred and despair that poisoned my heart, and my world… Prepare for death's merciful hand!"

Reaching for the top of his Deck, he then materialized the back aura into his grip again as a card slid from the top of his Deck into his own hand. "Through the effect of Sin World, I now add Sin Ultimate Gem God – Rainbow Dragon to my hand again; and by excluding the original, I call forth my servant once again (ATK: 4000, LV: 10)!"

Holding his card up to the sky, Paradox created a shockwave of black energy which produced even more strong winds, before slapping the card onto his Duel Disc's tray. When he did so, a massive pillar of blackness extended up from the card and shattered into the form of the gigantic, masked serpent dragon, which coiled above the head of the yellow monster which dwarfed it.

"That monster… it can't be…" Johan gasped out, seeing the monster come into view and then hearing its unmistakable roar as it gazed down towards Yusei and Judai, who now had to dig in their heels to avoid being thrown from their platforms. As the monster's jaws finally relaxed, the colossal dragon began to open its mouth wider and collect black energy to fire upon the duellists.

"The end of the duel has come for both of you," Paradox chided, indicating the two cards on his tray. "With this attack by Sin Truth Dragon, I destroy all of your monsters and Yusei's Life Points; and then, with one attack by Sin Rainbow Dragon, I will destroy Judai as well. You humans wish to prattle on about the strength of your bonds? Then I will destroy all of you in a single move and let you die as one! BATTLE!"

"Not yet we're not destroyed," Judai shot back, indicating one of his set cards and drawing in the attention of both other players. "Reverse card open: Instant Magic, Super Fusion!" Snapping his fingers, Judai revealed one of his set cards to be his infamous and more powerful fusion card, whose very activation kicked up a similar wind storm as a vortex opened up in the sky above.

"By discarding one card, Hane-Kuriboh from my hand," he explained, taking the named card and inserting it into his Cemetery slow, "I choose Fusion Material Monsters from anywhere on the field and fuse them. In addition, the activation of this card cannot be responded to by any card effects."

"Trying to save Yusei's monster by using it as a Fusion Material, are you?" Paradox questioned, laughing darkly at the idea presented before him as though it were nothing more than a child's story. "Summoning that Dragoequites monster will not save your Life Points at all; it will simply delay my victory in this game!"

"Except that you've forgotten one detail: I'm allowed to use my opponent's Fusion Material Monsters as well!" Judai shot back, giving his own confident grin as Paradox cringed in shock. "Since Sin Rainbow Dragon is an Ultimate Gem God Monster, I fuse it with Neos!" Nodding, Judai's signature monster rose upwards into the air and blasted straight towards the white serpent dragon, stopping only when it was directly in front of that monster.

"The time of your reign of terror has finally come to an end, Paradox," Judai then added confidently, just as his monster became surrounded by a blue aura and Paradox's a red one. With a swing of its fist, the former then struck the mask of the dragon with a resounding thud, shattering the structure and revealing the face of the dragon underneath. In the moment that followed, both creatures simply changed into energy streams the same colour as their aura, and shot upwards into the swirling vortex where they vanished.

"Come forth: Rainbow Neos (ATK: 4500, LV: 10)!" From the centre of the whirlwind, a blast of golden light in the form of a pillar shot down and stopped right beside Judai, inside which the outline of his large, white-armoured winged warrior encrusted with gems; and as the light faded away, the monster unfurled its wings and let out a resounding battle cry that let out its own shockwave.

"He summoned it!" Johan spat enthusiastically, his cheer matched on the faces of all those on the ground and the two aboard the Arc Cradle. As they looked on, the dragon let out a massive roar in response to the presence of the white warrior, which responded with a low growl and simply held its ground against the aggressor.

"Trap Card Open: Material Eclipse!" Judai then added smugly, revealing yet another of his set cards as Paradox's Cemetery slot lit up in an orange glow. "During the turn a Fusion Monster is Fusion Summoned, I can exclude one of its Fusion Material Monsters from the Cemetery to have it gain half the ATK of the removed monster. By excluding Sin Rainbow Dragon, I add 2000 points to Neos' strength (ATK: 6500)!"

"_Now the power of Rainbow Neos has surpassed that of Sin Truth Dragon," _Yusei realized, looking at the white warrior as a rainbow aura formed around it and its own power rose._ "But. Stardust Dragon is still too weak for us to survive. All Judai's done is prevented Paradox from giving his coup de grace…"_

"Nothing less to be expected from the Fusion Genius, Yuki Judai…" Paradox uttered in annoyance, before his face shifted to an insane sneer. "But, you've not escaped my wrath at all! Permanent Trap: Sin Enrage! After activation, this card becomes an equip card for Sin Truth Dragon, increasing its ATK by 1000 for every Sin Monster in my Cemetery! In my Cemetery rest 7 Sin Monsters, more than doubling the power of my ultimate beast (ATK: 12000)!"

"An attack power of… 12000…?" Yugi then gasped out in complete disbelief and fear, the horror mirrored on the faces of the two remaining heroes and their group of friends below. "With that kind of strength, it's all over…"

"You've been a thorn in my side for far too long, Yusei…" Paradox stated maniacally, his glare falling squarely upon the black-haired duellist. "It's high time that I plucked you and stamped you out for good! Battle! I attack Stardust Dragon with Sin Truth Dragon!" Rearing back its head slightly, the dragon began to form a black ball of energy in its jaws, then released it in a screaming blast straight towards Yusei's dragon.

"Sorry to ruin your plans yet again, Paradox," Judai interrupted, his voice having changed to a much more solemn and calm pitch, "but I won't allow you to do Yusei in to easily. Even if my life is forfeit in the exchange, I will protect my friend's existence…" With a look of total shock, Yusei then turned to Judai with dismay and panic in his eyes.

"Trap card Open: Cross Inherit," Judai then added, blood once again pouring from the corner of his mouth as Yusei gasped, looking back speechless and frozen in place. "When my partner's monster is selected as an attack target, I give control of one of my monster's to that partner, and change the attack to a direct attack on my Life Points…"

"Judai, stop! Don't do this!" Yusei pleased, tears forming in the corners of his eyes as the large white warrior on Judai's field disappeared in a burst of light, only to appear right beside Yusei's white dragon. "No, please! Lease! Judai!" But the red-haired duellist made no note of Yusei's words; instead, he signalled towards the platform where Yusei had stood, and pointed to the one card which still remained face-up there.

"Next, I activate the effect of Yugi's Legacy Inherit," he then added, pulling a card from the top of his Deck and placing it into an open zone on his tray, "and I set one Trap Card for Yusei to use…" With that said, Judai turned to Yusei with his face completely serene, his eyes changing to Yubel's as her voice joined his.

"My story has long since been told, Yusei, but yours has yet to end," the two then explained, though it did nothing to alleviate the sorrow eating at Yusei while they spoke. "There was no chance for me to win this duel without you, for I was too severely injured. My heart will soon stop beating, but yours can live on with the fire and passion of mine. "

"Cut this out, Judai! Please…!" Yusei continued to plead, but to no avail as the time for this had already long since passed. By now, the eyes of Yugi and of those on the ground were beginning to shake as well, as the impact of what was about to happen came down on them.

"Yusei, everyone, thank you so very much… you gave me a chance to be the hero again, and I cherish every memory we had together. I will always love you all…" Then, turning back to his original position, he added, "But now, it is time to go…"

"JUDAI!" Yusei screamed, just as the blast closed in on his partner and its aura bathed him in a white light, obscuring most of his features. In a violent explosion, the entire platform on which Judai was standing was destroyed, and from the resultant smoke Judai could be seen, falling towards the ground head-first with his eyes on Yusei only.

"We did it, Yubel…" Judai said aloud, just as the spirit appeared beside him shortly before evaporating into smoke. "Yusei…" he then added softly, closing his eyes as his heartbeat came to a full stop. With tears nowhere to be found, Judai peacefully slipped from consciousness and left everything behind, with no regrets or sadness left in his mind.

As his body then fell towards the Arc Cradle, Jose extended his arm and an orange aura appeared around Judai. The descent then began to slow until he simply floated down into Alessandro's outstretched arms, with Jose the older and taller Emperor of Yliaster telling his cohort, "We may yet be able to use him. Take him to Ylaidus…"

Alessandro had absolutely no response save for a solemn nod as he turned towards the entry to the Arc Cradle, walking off with the boy's body carefully perched over his forearms. Even the stoic and uncaring face he put on could not hide the internal pain he felt at the death of such a great rival, especially one he had come to respect so much. _"Rest in peace, Yuki Judai…"_

On the ground below, the emotion had punched its way into everyone's heart. Even Hell Kaiser, Crow, Jack and Kiryu struggled to hold back the tears as the despair hit them, while most of the others –especially Johan, Aki and the twins – simply broke down and began to weep and cry at the knowledge that one of their best friends had just been taken from them.

Above, standing on the ledge on shaky feet, Yusei was the hardest hit by what had just unfolded, tears pouring from his face and sobs of complete misery escaping him. In a mere few seconds he collapsed completely and fell onto his hands and knees, shaking and outright crying. Yugi was no less hard hit by the incident, and he likewise found himself with tears streaming down his face before he turned towards Paradox in complete rage.

"How could you… How could you do this to us, Paradox?" the legendary duellist snapped, his voice breaking as he pointed accusingly and snarled angrily. "Was it really necessary to so violently take him from us the way you did? Answer me!"

"What's wrong, Mutou Yugi?" Paradox questioned with a sneer and a dark chuckle in his voice. "The death of one more great duellist means one less person to whom you could lose your title as King of Duellists. You should be thanking me for killing your friend, and rejoicing that your rival is now gone from your path."

Completely taken back to that answer, Yugi snarled in rage before completely going berserk on the blond duellist before him. "How dare you? What kind of person do you believe I am, to see one of my friends that way? Perhaps it's been so long since you were human that you've forgotten the meaning of compassion…"

"Was it forgetting the meaning of compassion the thing which drove your alter ego, the Pharaoh Atem, to try and murder Kaiba Seto in Duellist Kingdom? Or to sacrifice you with the Orichalcos Barrier just for a chance at a victory? You yourself have likewise acted in blood in order to get what you wanted, so do not preach to me about what it means to have compassion!"

While Yugi just stood there glaring angrily and Yusei continued to weep, Paradox simply glared down upon them both and continued his speech. "Humans at their core are creatures of violent and selfish persuasion, corrupted by greed and driven by passion. The human heard is truly the most evil entity in existence. Were it not for human hearts, by world would never have been destroyed; and thus, neither would your friend…"

Then, turning his attention only to Yusei, he asked of him, "Do you feel despair, Yusei? Now you understand the pain which consumed by mind and soul, and which destroyed my world, your future. This is the price which must be paid to save this world's future from the evil which is humanity…"

"I'm… I'm a horrible friend…" Yusei then stammered to himself. "No… I'm no friend at all… Nobody would have let their friend walk straight into a death so brutal, so undeserved… How can I ever answer for what I've just done…?"

"Yusei, you didn't do this…" Yugi responded, looking at his partner with a sympathetic face; but it was no good, as Yusei was already drowning in the despair of Judai's demise and Paradox's word.

"You don't have to suffer any longer," Paradox responded, sounding legitimately consoling and sympathetic towards his opponent for the first time all game. "You can make the agony come to an end by your own hand. Simply surrender this duel and you can die peacefully; then, you can escape the despair of this tragedy."

"No, don't listen to him!" Yugi snapped out, trying to get through to Yusei and make him realize what he was agreeing to, and again it was to no avail. "Don't surrender to him! Do you want Judai's sacrifice to be in vain? He's given you the tools to bring him down; all you have to do is finish this duel…"

"That is not your decision to make, Yugi…" Paradox responded sternly and with a solemn air about him. "The only one who decides what Yusei does is himself, and it will be through his words that his intent is announced. So tell me now, Fudo Yusei…" Turning to the shaking black-haired duellist, he then narrowed his eyes and asked simply, "What do wish to do…?"

After shaking and hesitating for what seemed like eons to Yugi, Yusei finally produced an answer. "I don't deserve to live… I don't even want to…" the black-haired duellist then whispered out hoarsely, choking on his own tears as he moved his right hand towards the top of his Deck, inching his way towards surrender. "I… I just want to die…"

**Card of the Chapter – Paradox**

**Sin Truth Dragon**

**DARK**

**Level: **12

**Family: **[Dragon/Effect]

**Effect: **

**ANIME/CHAPTER: **This card cannot be Normal Summoned or set. This card cannot be Special Summoned other than by the effect of "Sin Paradigm Shift". There can only be 1 "Sin" Monster face-up on the field. If there is no face-up Field Magic Card, this card is destroyed. When a "Sin" Monster you control destroys an opponent's monster as a result of battle, destroy all monsters on your opponent's side of the field, and inflict 1000 damage to your opponent for each monster destroyed. If this card would be destroyed by another card's effect, exclude 1 "Sin" Monster in your Cemetery instead.

**OCG: **This card cannot be Normal Summoned or set. This card cannot be Special Summoned other than by paying half your Life Points when a "Sin" Monster you control is destroyed; you can then Special Summon this card from your hand or Deck. There can only be 1 "Sin" Monster face-up on the field. If there is no face-up Field Magic Card, this card is destroyed. When this card destroys an opponent's monster as a result of battle, destroy all face-up monsters on your opponent's side of the field.

**ATK/ **5000

**DEF/ **5000

*This has shaped up to be the saddest chapter I've ever written. I certainly hope that's a good thing. Review if you wish.*


	5. Power Entrusted by my Friends

**Disclaimer**: The following piece is in no way a claim to ownership of the depicted characters. Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh R, Yu-Gi-Oh GX and Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's are owned by TV Tokyo, Konami Corporation and Kazuki Takahashi. The song with which this story shares its name is the property of Dutch Metal Band 'Within Temptation'; the name is used here solely for the poetic nature of such a reference. This story as presented is strictly for entertainment purposes, both for its owner and readers.

**Author's Note:** Please excuse a math error from the previous chapter; I listed Sin Truth Dragon's modified ATK as 10000, when it should have been 12000 as there are 7 Sins in the Cemetery at that appoint (Paradox Dragon, Parallel Gear, Stardust, Blue-Eyes, Red-Eyes, Black Rose and Red Daemon's). The error was a result of a last-minute script change and has now been fixed. Thank you for your understanding.

**Chapter 5 – Powers Entrusted by my Friends! Scream, Shooting Star Dragon!**

As he stepped into the room where Placido was still suspended in the tank of green fluid, carrying the lifeless body of Judai in his arms, Alessandro remained stoic and completely silent, though his eye showed a twinge of loss and disappointment. _"Yuki Judai, one of the greatest duellists of all time… to think you would leave this world before I had a chance to try my luck against you…"_

Stopping directly in front of the tank, he then placed the body down in front of the tank and then kneeled, looking down at the floor as the lines of energy along the walls continued to pulse and hum. In a few seconds, a white fog-like light began to expand from these lines and fill the room, eventually covering everything until the Dimension of the Gods had appeared completely.

With that Alessandro raised his head and looked forwards, just in time to see the form of the strange magatama-like object come into view, on a slight angle and with the strange distorted voices echoing in the background. However, this time Alessandro could feel something very different about the object; its aura seemed unlike he expected, perhaps something he recognized…

With a sudden and strange pulse of energy, ten long metal panels along the back of the object's tail emerged, staggered in rows of longer and shorter sections with five of each. A strange object then extended down from the main metallic body, one which resembled an armless torso with a mask-like face mounted onto the bottom of it; and then, a pair of long, metallic arms appeared next to the arm sockets, connected by beams of electricity.

"Are you… the true form of Ylaidus…?" the Spanish man questioned, while the object turned and came to face him head-on. Along the mask there was a strip of darkness which, on the left side, had a twisted shape that extended onto the check like Yusei's criminal mark, and onto the dome of the head in a simpler shape. Within the Criminal mark, he could make out a feint flow of Momentum energy flowing towards what looked like a blue eye with similar energy at the edges of the iris.

"I am the being known as Zone, the embodiment of Ylaidus' will and his human avatar to the world of man," the being explained, causing Alessandro to become incredibly surprised. He had always assumed Zone was simply an alias for Ylaidus; now he understood they were two separate entities, one physical and one metaphysical. "Stand, human…"

Following the instruction, he immediately rose to his feet and looked into the eye of the strange being. From inside the blackness of its mask Alessandro could see its eye shift down towards the lifeless corpse between them, and with a tone that reflected sadness and melancholy, Zone half-whispered out, "Judai… To see you this way, after all this time…" Turning his attention back to the human before him, the being then asked, "What have you brought him here for?"

"We wish to honour an arrangement made with him long ago," Alessandro explained simply while he looked down at Judai's corpse, the blue glow from his mechanical left eye starting to show through the hangs that covered it. Changing the subject quickly he then issued, "It seems so much a tragedy to be a soul lost to the world when a mission remains to be accomplished; I remember the pain of knowing that I could never rescue my village…"

"Time has not yet run out for you, human…" Zone responded, causing Alessandro to shift his gaze back to the being in front of him. "You have not yet lost the very fabric of your humanity to the machinations of torment. There is no need for you to shoulder your guilt and burden for any longer. Treasure the humanity that you still possess. Placido and the others are machines, incapable of feeling or understanding of humanity; but for you, these things are still a reality."

"But that is not the path I wish to walk down," Alessandro explained bitterly, looking down at one of his mechanical arms and sighing deeply. "Flesh is weak, fragile, and easily damaged; a heart is easily broken and torn asunder. But metal and wiring are eternal and unfeeling, completely unburdened by things such as emotion. I do not miss my humanity, for becoming a machine lets me escape the pain of my village…"

"Do not become disillusioned by such a backwards promise as that," Zone cautioned, reaching out one of the mechanical arms floating beside him and bringing its hand up beside Alessandro's face. The hand itself was enormous, easily the size of Jose's whole torso and with claws that looked able to slice through steel; yet it delicately brushed the side of Alessandro's face caringly, so gentle and graceful as to defy understanding. "Savour your humanity while you still possess it, and never forget your dream…"

"I…" Alessandro began to state, but found himself gagged by the swirling thought and emotions that now rang inside his mind like a church bell. Steeling his resolve, he looked back into Zone's eye and saw the pain and turmoil within it; and for a second, it seemed he recognized that expression, that face, before turning and beginning to walk away. "I promise you, Zone, that I will not forget my dream. Will you honour a promise in return?"

"If your goal is to revive your village," Zone interpreted, a hole forming in the end of the white fog-like dimension to reveal the original room in the Arc Cradle, "then I will promise you anything you wish." With a silent nod Alessandro then continued on his way and stepped out of the fog, the hole closing behind him and leaving Zone with Judai's body, eye facing down towards him. "Judai…I'm so sorry it came to this for you… Can you forgive me…?"

Meanwhile, Alessandro stopped marching forward once outside of the white fog and turned around to gaze at the face of Placido, eyes closed and mouth locked in a smug grin. _"El Capitan… You lured me with the false promise of salvaging my village and creating a better society. I'm through waiting on promises from you… I'll carve my villages future with my own hands!"_ With that, Alessandro walked around the tube and continued forwards into the depths of the Arc Cradle, not knowing what lay ahead but knowing that the answers he sought could most likely be found there…

As the D-Wheels of the Three High Odinists sped towards the centre square of Neo Domino City, Yusuriha and Kyojo continued to look up towards the hovering golden dragon in the sky, Paradox fused into its forehead and staring down towards the three floating platforms upon which two of the Legendary Duellists remained.

"This… can't be…" Kyojo found himself muttering in disbelief, unable to process the fate their dear friend had just met by his own hand, and sympathizing with Yusei's current despair. Remembering the number of times one of the group had sacrificed themselves for each other, he recalled that they had always come back to each other in some form or another; but now both Taiyou and Judai had been lost for good, and it was almost too much guilt for him to bear.

His thoughts of self-bereavement were cut short by their arrival among the group, dismounting slowly from the D-Wheels the Odinists had been riding and stepping towards the group, the same melancholy expressions on their faces as everyone else's. "Where is Taiyou?" Hell Kaiser asked in a very low and sombre voice, only for Yusuriha to give a solemn head-shale in reply. With this final gesture, the harsh reality of the events finally set in completely.

Cohen, Arynis and Allana found themselves just as much the outsiders to this group as Harald, Brave and Dragan; though they had been friends of Judai's, they hadn't known him as well as any of the others, and they didn't even know anyone by the name of Taiyou. To them the two were cohorts and fellow duellists; to the others, they were brothers.

"Fuck you, Paradox…" Crow grumbled out from his sobbing and enraged voice, staring up at the dragon Paradox was on with blood-shot eyes. "Do you hear me? FUCK YOU!" Crow wanted to continue, but his sadness caused him to simply fall on his knees and blubber some more, while Jack tried his best to maintain his composure long enough for one final message.

"Yusei! Don't you dare surrender and just let Paradox get away with everything he's done to us, to our friends! Do you hear he? Stand up and fight, Yusei! YUSEI!" However, Jack's cries fell upon deaf ears above, as Yusei seemed too lost in his own despair to even flinch at the loudness of Jack's tone.

"What is your choice, Yusei?" Paradox questioned solemnly, the only sound that could be heard from up there other than Yusei's laboured breathing and the hum of his Duel Disc's energy tray. Once again Yusei, still gazing down upon his Deck, did not hear the words that were spoken to him, instead letting his tears rain downwards.

"_Do not despair like this, Yusei…"_ the duellist then heard a familiar voice inside his head utter, making him actually respond with a stunned gasp. One wayward tear from his eye then fell onto the centre of his Deck, rippling loudly and causing him to become surrounded in a white aura. Everything around him seemed to fade away into blackness after that, leaving him in a familiar location.

"Father… is that you…?" Yusei then questioned, getting slowly to his feet and looking around and recognizing the darkness as being the Underworld from the Old Momentum explosion. After the ordeal with the Dark Signers had ended, he remembered coming here with Judai to rescue Kiryu; and while there, Dr. Fudo had guided them to his soul and helped him return.

"Have you truly lost all hope, Yusei…?" his father the questioned as his spirit appeared from a brilliant yellow glow, revealing the form Yusei recognized so well. His unbuttoned shirt and black pants covered by an open lab coat, dyed dark grey from his time in this blackness; and his left turquoise eye looking back at Yusei, his right covered by his black bangs.

"I want to know why all of this happened, father…" The teenager asked softly, his voice cracked and sorrowful as he glanced down at his own glowing birthmark, remembering all the pain which had befallen him in his time as a Signer. "Why must everyone I love continue to suffer this way…?"

"Fate has been very cruel to us, I will agree," Dr. Fudo's spirit stated, looking down at Yusei and patting him on the shoulder. "And there is no doubt in my mind that its cruelty will continue; but you cannot stop now and let Paradox have his way with this world. He is unstable and ruthless, a megalomaniac bent on erasing humanity from this world… How many more of your friends will you lose by not stopping him…?"

"Judai…" Yusei again sobbed, trying to restrain the tears from his eyes before receiving a right hook to the face from his father's spirit, knocking him to the watery floor of the shadows before looking back up at the spirit of his father, his eyes speaking of physical and emotional pain.

"Yusei, despairing over Judai will simply cost the entire world its existence," the spirit responded harshly, though his words seemed to have an effect of Yusei stronger than anything previous. "Use Judai's memory not as your beast of burden; take it into your soul and use it to fight. Make his courage and passion into yours, and defeat Paradox…"

The words of Dr. Fudo thus ended, as his entire body burst back into the white flash of light, erasing the Underworld setting around Yusei and bringing him back to his spot on the duelling field, crouched on his floating rock island above the city and below Paradox, mounted onto the top of his Dragon.

Opening his eyes, Yusei closed his outstretched hand near his Deck into a fist and slowly began to stand up, pulling his hand slowly back to his side as he did so. In shock and utter disgust, Paradox grunted and snarled at the Signer, while Yugi looked on with a renewed sense of salvation. "Paradox… I will not allow you to destroy our world, our future…" Yusei said aloud, fire in his eyes as he gazed directly into Paradox's.

"So, you wish to continue fighting even without your friends to guide you and give you strength?" Paradox questioned, before his face became a confident sneer. "Very well then; I shall have the satisfaction of destroying all three of the greatest duellists in history…"

"Except that I'm not fighting alone!" Yusei responded, raising his fist for emphasis as red flames started to erupt from the Dragon Mark on his arm. "I choose to fight with Judai's memory and Yugi's courage as my weapons, and with the fighting spirits of my friends for resolve. Everyone!" he then yelled out, getting the attention of everybody standing on the streets below. "Lend me your power!"

Looking up and understanding exactly what he meant, all four of the other Signers raised their arms towards the shy, their birthmarks lighting up and subsequently disappearing. With that Yusei's mark disappeared as well and the full Crimson Dragon's Seal formed on his back, likewise covered in the red aura. This red energy then spread over Yusei's whole body, creating a whirlwind from him that made him seem like an ancient Greek hero.

"Paradox! Because of the effect of Judai's trap, you cannot damage my Life Points this turn," Yusei reminded the blond duellist, who merely scowled in reply as Yusei held up the tray of his Duel Disc. "And now, with Judai's ultimate monster at my side, I'll definitely use it to take you apart!"

"You? Defeat me by yourself?" Paradox questioned, holding up a backwards card and sneering down at the single Signer before him. "Need I remind you that my Life Points are more than double yours, and that I have no my field the strongest monster yet this game: my Avatar, Sin Truth Dragon (ATK: 12000, LV: 12). Then allow me to take away the rest of your power slowly and painfully."

Flipping around said last card in his hand, he shoved it onto the tray and declared, "I activate Sin Treasure. When I control a Level 10 or higher Sin Monster and no other monsters, I draw 2 cards." Pulling the two cards from his Deck, he smiled darkly at them both before placing them both onto the tray. "Now I set two cards and end my turn."

Yusei: LP 2750

Paradox: LP 5600

"Draw!" Yusei declared, holding the card with his fully-outstretched hand and smiling at what he had drawn with great passion. _"Thank you Judai, and Yugi… You've given me everything I need in order to take him down; and if I can wait a few turns to draw what I need, I will defeat him for certain."_

Turning his attention to a card already sitting in his hand, he folded the drawn card against his palm while he grabbed that open and placed it into the slot nearest his hand. "I place one card face-down, and activate Rainbow Neos' effect!" Pointing up to the huge warrior standing behind him. "Once per turn, by sending one card in my Magic and Trap Card Zone to the Cemetery, I return all my opponent's Magic and Trap Cards to the Deck!"

Looking on in horror as the card in front of Yusei changed into rainbow energy and flowed up into the hands of the warrior in two streams, the group looked from below at what was happening and gained a sudden sense of surety. "If he returns those cards to the Deck, Sin Truth Dragon will be destroyed because of the lack of a field card," Hell Kaiser realized. "Then he can attack with Rainbow Neos and Stardust, and win this duel."

"Sorry to disappoint," Paradox sneered, indicating a card in front of him and activating it by snapping his fingers, "But you're far from winning at this point. I activate a second Sin Shackle, and equip it to Rainbow Neos!" Revealing another of the card that had been used on Yugi's monster, covering the wings and face of the warrior in the Sin Armour and causing its power to disperse. "With the effect of Rainbow Neos sealed, you cannot return my cards to my Deck, and my dragon will remain."

"However," Yusei responded, reaching for his Cemetery, "the set card I just sent to the Cemetery was Limiter Break. When his card goes to the Cemetery, I can Special Summon Speed Warrior from my hand, Deck or Cemetery. Return, Speed Warrior (DEF: 400, LV: 2)!" In an instant the small roller-bladed warrior returned and took up a crouching stance, as Yusei took two more cards from his hand, including the drawn one, and placed them on his tray. "I end my turn."

"Then let the real fun begin," Paradox declared, not even reaching for his Deck and instead turning to a set card. "Trap card open: Sin Reinforcement! By skipping my Draw Phase, I choose one Sin monster each from my Deck and Cemetery with the same ATK, and Special Summon them disregarding the Summoning Conditions. Come to me: Sin Cyber End! Sin Paradox ((ATK: 4000, LV: 10) x2)!"

With its effect declared, the card split into two of itself and formed vortexes through which the mechanical three-headed and armless masked dragons from earlier appeared, on either side of the massive yellow monster which now dwarfed them. "Since a Sin Monster left my Cemetery, Sin Enrage takes 1000 ATK from my Truth Dragon (ATK: 11000). However, you're still no match for the power of my dragons! Sin Cyber End Dragon, eradicate Stardust!"

Opening its three mouths and firing three plasma-like black bursts, the dragon followed its instruction and aimed its assault for Yusei's white dragon, who responded quickly by slipping up a set card. "I activate a Permanent Trap: Forceful Stop! By sending one other card I control to the Cemetery, I end the Battle Phase. I send Speed Warrior!"

Jumping up to intercept the attack, the small warrior was instantly vaporized by its foe; but in doing so, Paradox scowled at the idea that he could not finish off Yusei again this turn. "You spend turn after turn digging in your heels and surviving. But how long can you keep this up? If I draw something to destroy your trap, you're finished!"

"We'll see about that!" Yusei declared, reaching for his Deck and pulling his turn card, scowling when he saw what it was. "I summon Tubro Synchron in Defence Position (DEF: 500, LV: 2)." Immediately the small green buddy-like robot took form in front of Yusei, crouching as it turned blue._"That draw does absolutely nothing for me; I have to hope for better next turn."_

"Can't draw your way out of my move?" Paradox questioned. "It would seem your earlier efforts have drained your Deck dry; now you have no chance of space. It's my turn!" Reaching for his Deck and pulling his card, he was pleased to see what it was and thus flipped it onto the tray immediately. "I activate Sin Fortune, and draw one card for each of my three Sins."

Pulling three cards from his Deck, he examined them before letting out a dark and menacing laugh, holding up a card for Yusei to see. "I activate the Magic Card Sin Selector. By removing from play up to two Sin Monsters from my Grave, I add that many from my Deck to my hand. I exclude Red-Eyes and Parallel Gear, and I add Sin Light and Darkness Dragon and Sin Armed Dragon to my hand."

"_Even if he's weakening his Truth Dragon (ATK: 9000), he's still adding more and more power to his arsenal,"_ Yugi noted, looking on as black smoke began to emanate from Paradox's Deck again._ "Who knows what he'll do next turn…"_

"Come forth: Sin Light and Darkness (ATK: 2800, LV: 8)! Sin Armed Dragon (ATK: 3000, LV: 10)!"As the two cards shot out from his Deck, images of the split black and white dragon and the black-armoured red dragon emerged and were covered in armour on their wings and given masks, adding them to the field and filling up Paradox's Monster Zones.

"And now I activate Sin Armed Dragon's effect," Paradox stated, pointing to his monster as it formed an orb of energy in its hand. "Once per turn, I can negate the effect of an opponent's monster until the End Phase. Stardust Dragon, I strip you of your effect!" Throwing its energy ball, the orb struck Yusei's white dragon and stunned it to the point that it almost fell from the duelling field, while Paradox pointed at the white warrior.

"Now, I attack rainbow Neos with my Avatar, Sin Truth Dragon! Sin Revelation!" Opening its mouth wide, the dragon created a red burst of energy between its jaws that it then shot towards the white winged warrior; and below, Yusei pointed to his own card as he triggered another effect.

"I activate the effect of Forceful Stop again, and I send Bolt Hedgehog on my field to the Cemetery to end the Battle Phase!" Disappearing into a yellow haze, the small animal on Yusei's field vanished and the card started to take effect; but as it did, the mouth of the white and black dragon opened and blasted a black fireball at the trap, with Yusei immediately shocked.

"I activate Sin Light and Darkness Dragon's effect," Paradox explained with a sneer, looking down on Yusei as the blast neared its target. "Once per turn, I decrease its ATK and DEF by 500 (ATK: 2300) to negate an opposing card effect and destroy it!" With a look of horror on Yusei's face and everybody else's as well, Paradox again started to laugh as his plan started to come together.

"I activate the effect of Forceful Stop again," Yusei explained, pointing to his set card. "By sending my set Scrap-Iron Scarecrow to the Cemetery, forcefully end the Battle Phase. Your Light and Darkness can't negate me this time!" In an instant Yusei's other set card flipped up and disappeared, causing the trap to launch a bean of red light before the fireball struck and shattered it; and then the red bean struck the yellow dragon's attack, stopping it cold as Yusei looked on in relief. _"But now I'm down to the wire. I can't hold his attacks off another turn…"_

"Yusei just barely saved himself there," Aki stated worriedly, looking up at the state of the duel. "He's lost the only card he has to permanently stop Paradox's attacks, and now he's lost three cards just to stop himself from losing. Paradox may yet push him past the breaking point."

"You may have stopped my attacks, Yusei, but my turn is not yet done," Paradox goaded, holding up yet another card from his hand, this one a Magic Card. "I activate Sin Blast, and deal you 500 Points of Damage for every Sin in my hand. With my field full, you take 2500 points of damage!"

"What?" Yusei's entire group below stated in total fear as a burst of energy formed from the card and blasted almost straight down on Yusei, exploding and causing him to howl out in pain. AS it lifted, smoke came from Yusei's body and he collapsed on his knees, this time from sheer exhaustion and pain.

Yusei: LP 250

Paradox: LP 5600

"Now Yusei's down to a handful of Life Points." Kiryu realized, his eyes seemingly fixed upon the image of Yusei on the monitor. The denim-clad Signer breathed heavily and shifted his weight onto one knee as he pushed himself up into a leaning and shaky stance, his deathly glare still fixed upon Paradox as the blond duellists simply laughed darkly.

"Now your demise, along with that of this pitiful era, is all but assured," Paradox sneered, holding up the last card from his hand as he did so. "I'll set this card and end my turn." As he did so, Yusei offered up no verbal response but continued to tag, eventually dropping slightly before catching himself and forcing himself to stand up again.

"What's this, Yusei? Are you too tired and weak to stand up anymore?" With a wicked chuckle, Paradox opened up one of his eyes as wide as it would go, letting the reflection of Yusei's face form on it as the dragon below him snarled. "I must truly admit my respect for you, Yusei; after so much misery, pain and exhaustion, I wouldn't blame anyone for being unable to continue. Simply surrender here and I'd think nothing of it…"

"…Not yet…" Yusei said under his breath, catching everyone's attention as the red aura around him intensified. Closing his eyes, he straightened his gate while the aura around him expanded and snaked around him, eventually expanding massively until it took the form of the Red, black and yellow Dragon God, letting out its distinctive roar towards Paradox.

"The Crimson Dragon…" Harald noted in utter intrigue as the creature held out one of its claws over Yusei, fanning the energy flames around him. Within moments the smoke stopped rising from his clothes and the burns, scrapes and cuts that had been accumulated by so much pain and damage quickly healed themselves, shocking Paradox and mucking his rear back along with the dragon's head.

"Paradox, you've forgotten what it truly means to be a Signer," Yusei stated, the energy aura around him starting to die back down as the last of his injuries as healed. "We are not simply rebels fighting in vain, the way you see us; we are warriors, brothers and sisters in arms who will fight until the bitter end for the sake of our people and our world. Through our resolve and the bonds between us, we shall never be defeated."

Snapping opened his eyes dramatically, Yusei reached down for the top card of his Deck and gripped on as hard as he could. _"Judai, please… may your spirit guide to me the one chance I have to turn everything around…"_ "It's my… TURN!" Snapping the card up wildly, Yusei glanced down his extended arm to see a Magic Card which he immediately greeted with a confident and appreciative smile. _"Thank you, Judai…"_

"I activate the Magic Card, Tuning!" Yusei declared, his deck spitting out a single card from the middle of the stack as he grabbed it. "Due to this card, I ad 1 Synchron Tuner Monster from my Deck to my hand, then send the top card of my Deck to the Cemetery. I choose Junk Synchron!" Once he pulled out and revealed the card, he placed it in his hand as the auto-shuffler mixed up his cards; then; he grabbed his top card and, seeing what it was, placed it confidently into the Cemetery.

In the back of his mind, Yusei now saw a series of cards from the field and otherwise stacking together, connected by a band of lightning as the combo completed itself. It started with the Junk Synchron now in his hand, then Sin Light and Darkness Dragon, the card he had just discarded, Tuning Supporter, a Synchro Monsters, two facedown cards, Stardust Dragon, another Synchro Monster, and finally five more facedown cards. At this point the whole thing exploded into light and Yusei slapped his card onto the tray.

"I Summon Junk Synchron (ATK: 1300, LV: 3)!" Instantly the small orange warrior appeared from a portal and took up an aggressive stance, while Yusei started to explain what it did. "When this card is Normal Summoned successfully, I Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower monster from my Cemetery with its effect negated, and I choose…"

"Not so fast!" Paradox yelled, pointing at the monster as the dual-coloured dragon again produced a fireball in its mouth. "By decreasing Light and Darkness' ATK and DEF by 500 more (ATK: 1800), I destroy and negate your pathetic monster!" Roaring, said dragon released the burst of energy violently, impacting the small orange warrior and causing it to explode instantly. "Now your combo has failed."

"On the contrary," Yusei stated, smirking confidently, "you did exactly what I wanted you to do!" As Paradox looked back with an angry snarl, the image of a card from his Cemetery appeared before him as a card slid out from his Cemetery. "Behold, Paradox, my true aim! I activate the effect of the Tuning Miner I discarded with Tuning; by removing from play this card in my Cemetery, I Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower Machine or Warrior from my Deck."

Reaching for what remained of his Deck, Yusei picked up a single card and placed it into the tray swiftly, stating aloud, "I Special Summon Repair Warrior (DEF: 800, LV: 2)!" In a crouching position beside Yusei, a beige-armoured humanoid figure with two mechanical arms appeared, one ending in a jackhammer and the other in a buzz saw, and it turned blue immediately thereafter while Paradox looked on quizzically.

"I'm not done yet; I activate Repair Warrior's effect!" Staring up its jackhammer, the monster plunged it into the ground below it, causing a blue rift to appear before the monster itself vanished. "By Releasing Repair Warrior, I Special Summon a Level 2 or lower monster from my Cemetery that isn't Repair Warrior."

As Yusei said this, another card slid out of his Cemetery; and he folded it against his hand while he inserted the one he had just used, before placing it horizontally on the tray. "Come back, Cluster Pendulum (DEF: 300, LV: 1)!" Placing the card on the tray, Yusei saw his monsters joined by the form of the long rod-like monster, turning blue as it took its place.

"I'm Tuning my Level 1 Turbo Synchron with my Level 1 Cluster Pendulum!" Folding down a black visor over its face, the small green robot's eyes turned red ads it shot up and became a single green ring, into which the rod-like monster flew and changed into a white orb. "The clustering wishes will race forth towards a new horizon. Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! The power of hope, Formula Synchron (DEF: 1500, LV: 2)!"

From the green column of light produced from the white orb, a small blue and yellow robot with its body emanating from a formula-1 race car appeared, taking up a crouching stance in front of Yusei where his green monster had been. "Since Cluster Pendulum was used as a Synchro material Monster and Formula Synchron was Synchro Summoned, I draw a total of 2 cards."

Growling as Yusei snapped up his two cards, Paradox watched Yusei place them in his hand before producing another card from his sleeve; a Synchro Monster card, though it depicted no image or words. "Now, Paradox, I show you the power that I have obtained: Clear Mind!" Closing his eyes, Yusei listened to his heartbeat and waited until it hit the perfect rhythm; then, he held his card up to the sky, and his eyes shot open with cat-like reflexes.

"I'm Tuning my Level; 2 Synchro Tuner, Formula Synchron, to my Level 8 Synchro Monster, Stardust Dragon!" Responding, the two monster shot up into the air, the former turning into two white orbs that became green rings. The latter then flew straight through the, becoming a yellow outline that burst into a green column of light.

"The clustering crystal dreams shall open the doorway top a new evolution," Yusei then chanted, holding up his card for Paradox to see. "Become the path its light shine upon! Accel Synchro!" In that moment the card changed in a burst of green light to include a name, text and an image; and then Yusei slapped it onto the tray, while the form of the monster started to appear in the green light behind him. "Surpass the boundaries, Shooting Star Dragon (ATK: 3300, LV: 10)!"

Exploding the green light from around it, the black and white dragon with green aura from the end of the previous duel with Placido, complete with jet-like wings and a box-like fused face, appeared behind Yusei with a semi-mechanical roar that created a sonic pressure wave. Paradox held his arm over his face as Yusei again reached for his Deck, grabbing several cards in a single motion.

"Once per turn, Shooting Star Dragon lets me reveal the top 5 cards of my Deck and check the number of Tuner Monsters. Then, that becomes the number of attacks my Dragon can make this turn. So let's check for Tuners!" Grapping his cards, Yusei threw them into the air and the cards became gigantic holograms of themselves: Hyper Synchron, Shield Wing, Spirit Force, Half Shut and Bri Synchron. "Now Shooting Star Dragon can attack twice this turn."

"Impossible!" Paradox barked out as the dragon jumped upwards above his monsters; then, it split into two copies of itself, one dyed red and the other yellow. Folding their limbs against its body and stiffening their wings, they lit up energy jets along the rear edges of their wings and blasted into the two newest dragons, the white and black dragon and the red armoured dragon. They targets were then blasted into shrapnel that Paradox had to cover his face to protect himself from, while the group below celebrated the hit.

Yusei: LP 250

Paradox: LP 3800

"I choose not to activate the effect of Sin Light and Darkness Dragon at this time," Paradox explained, placing the two cards in the Cemetery. "And while you may have destroyed two of my monsters, Sin Truth Dragon gains 2000 more points (ATK: 11000). And your monster, powerful as it is, still isn't as strong as any of my Sin creatures."

"I set two cards and end my turn," Yusei stated as the two dragons came together behind him, changing back into its regular form. With the two cards now in front of him, Yusei was startled by the sound of thunder and strong winds above him; and looking towards the sky, he was horrified to see a hurricane-like squall forming at the centre of the time rift as its cracked edges expanded beyond the horizon.

"Well then Yusei, it seems my plan is falling squarely into place," Paradox stated smugly, laughing maniacally, as the sound of huge cresting waves began to sound and lighting began to trace the sky. "It doesn't matter if I win this duel or not; in less than an hour, this dimension will become to destabilized that it crumbles at our feet!"

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Crow exclaimed, just as the earth began to shake and everyone began to stumble in one direction or another. In a monumental burst the street split in half into a chasm with red energy flames licking the edges, sending everyone falling to the ground. Asuka came within inches of falling in, but Kenzan reacted quickly and pulled her back out without so much as a burn.

Then, the sound of crumbling rock drew the attention of the crowd to the tops of the buildings, ever an even more horrifying sight made their hearts nearly stop. The buildings held a yellow glow at the top of them as the cement and metal they were made of slowly disintegrating into dust from the top down, inch by inch, with the dust flying towards in the bitter winds.

"You bastard, stop this now!" Yusei threatened, the Crimson Dragon around him growling out as Paradox simply laughed even more insanely than anything previous, simply causing Yusei to snarl. "What are you on about now? Explain what you've done now!"

"This isn't my doing whatsoever," Paradox explained with a sadistic glee in his voice. "This is entirely from the destabilization of time. Time exists as a line in its natural state, and now I've turned it into a Mobius strip. When an object that cannot bend is forced to take a twisted shape… well, you should know that well, Yusei…"

"This has to be reversible!" Yugi responded, a few seconds before a crack of lightning shot down past him and down into the ground. The next bolt that fell came straight down towards him; but the Crimson Dragon arched its body above him and took the blow, shielding him from the assault.

"If you can defeat me in this duel before the dimension collapses, then maybe that Aeon in front of you can restore the timeline to a more stable condition," Paradox responded, reaching for his Deck and grabbing a card. "However, at this rate Yusei has no chance of survival; so let's finish the duel quickly, so I can create the ideal world, free of miserable humans!"

Paradox then snapped up the top card of his Deck, looking at it and sneering darkly as he looked back to Yusei's field However, once it was in his hand Yusei immediately stated, "Remember, it's been 5 turns since you played Life-Shaving Card Treasure, so you're forced to discard your hand."

"With pleasure," Paradox stated darkly, spinning the card around and then discarding it. "The card I just drew was Sin Gandora; and since I sent another Sin to the Cemetery, Sin Truth gains even more power (ATK: 12000). And now, I'll see that power put to use in ending you entirely! I attack your Shooting Star Dragon, Yusei!"

Raising his hand to indicate the attack, Paradox caused his dragon's jaws to open slightly and begin collecting red energy, culminating in an orb of plasma blasted furiously at Yusei's own floating dragon. However, with cold precision Yusei took the card off his tray and held it up to Paradox, rebuking, "Not to fast! I activate Shooting Star Dragon's effect; by excluding this card until the End Phase, I negate one opposing attack! Stardust Disperse!"

Roaring out in its unique biomechanical voice, Yusei's dragon lit up the green oprbs on its body brightly before its entire body dissolved into green energy photons, the attack going straight through the centre of the cluster and missing its intended targets entirely. However, the heat from the burst caused Yusei to duck and begin sweating immediately; and as he turned around, he saw an even more present danger.

"Everybody! We have a situation!" he yelled out, just before Yugi and the others turned to look at what was going on. Point off where the attack was going, Yusei indicated a Boeing-747 flying in the distant sky, no doubt filled with civilians with no stake in what was happening. "We have to save those people!"

"I'm on it!" Aki answered, pulling a card from her sleeve and holding it to the sky in a single swift and fluid motion. "Come forth, Saviour Rose Dragon! Protect those passengers!" Bursting upwards in a bright beam of sickly-pink light, the card projected energy that exploded into the four-winged form of Aki's flower-like Demigod dragon, roaring as it quickly ascended into the path of the attack.

With a final defiant roar, the dragon then positioned itself in the path of the blast, folding its four wings in front of itself in a cross formation and letting the blast hit it a full force. Instantly the red plasma began to drape over the edges of the dragon, catching the petals of its body on fire and causing Aki herself to feel the pain of the onslaught as a body-wide burning of her skin.

In a few moments, it became clear how powerful this colossal dragon truly was; the force of the attack, with how well the Demigod bore the brunt of it, was still forcing the dragon itself slowly backwards as Paradox looked on with a sadistic and insane sneer. "If you wish to die in vain for the sake of those people Signer, that's alright as well!"

Bracing herself by digging her feet as far forwards as she could in her shoes, Aki felt her own body being pushed and strained by the hit her monster was receiving and cringed in response to it. She could see that her skin was starting to redden as though burnt; and a moment later, her dragon lurched backwards violently and she likewise flew backwards, headed straight for the chasm behind her.

"Over my dead body!" Jack bellowed angrily, jumping behind Aki and stopping he backward slide long enough for the Psychic to regain her footing and her concentration. Looking upwards, both could see the stream of plasma still sizzling at the flower dragon, every few seconds illuminated by a crack of lightning; and seeing this, both of them grew frantic and desperate.

"Please… Saviour Rose Dragon… Withstand this attack…" Aki mumbled underneath her breath, as her dragon began to snarl and roar out in utter agony. Relief came to them both moments later, however, as the last of the attack fell upon the dragon and it managed to hold its place just long enough to take all of it. With this display, the Odinists and WRGP contestants looked on is shock and awe, while Aki brought herself to a more upright stance.

Unfurling from the position it had been in, the dragon let out a final triumphant bellow as its entire body burst into purplish-red light and it dissolved into several particles much like Yusei's dragon; in this case, they transformed into rose petals less than a second after, and began falling to the earth in the breeze. "Excellent job, Izayoi," Kiryu complemented with his stern face, while Crow turned to yell up at Yusei.

"Hey pal, we got everything under control down here!" he explained, giving Yusei a thumbs up which the latter reciprocated. "Just make sure to give us a fucking head's up next time!"

"Will do," Yusei responded with a slight smirk, before looking back to Paradox with that same expression. "With Sin Truth's attack negated, the only two monsters you have left to attack with are Sin Paradox and Sin Cyber End; so bring it on if you dare!"

"Do you take me for a fool, Yusei?" Paradox questioned in an insulted tone. "Both of those dragons haven an attack power of 4000; and with 4500 points, your Rainbow Neos, the only monster left on your field, easily trumps that. My Battle Phase is over; and with no cards in my hand to summon or set, I must end my turn."

"Then in your End Phase, the effect of Shooting Star Dragon completes itself and Special Summons that monster to my side of the field (ATK: 3300, LV: 10)!" Placing the card back onto the tray dramatically, Yusei's dragon returned from below him with a mighty roar, taking a stand on the air behind Yusei and below the Crimson Dragon.

"And now, it's my turn!" Yusei exclaimed, reaching for his Deck and pulling out a card which he saw to be a Magic Card, and which he immediately placed onto the field. "I activate Pot of Avaraice! By returning 5 monsters from my Cemetery to my Deck, I draw 2 cards. I return Debris Dragon, Junk Synchron, Quick Synchron, Turbo Synchron and Nitro Synchron."

As all five of these cards slid out from his Cemetery, Yusei fanned them out for Paradox to see and he slid them into different sections of his Deck, the auto-shuffler kicking in and randomizing his cards instantly. After that Yusei gripped onto the top of his Deck tightly and pulled 2 new cards, looking at them before turning to one of his set cards.

"And now, I'll activate one of the set cards that Judai left behind: Trap Card, Material Changer!" Revealing one of the trap cards from the ledge where Judai had been standing, Yusei looked at it and immediately grabbed the purple card from his tray and inserted it into the Cemetery. "By releasing a Fusion Monster on my field, I Special Summon a Fusion Material Monster listed on that card, and then another monster with the same level, both from the Cemetery and in Defence Position!"

Immediately realizing the implications of this, Yugi held up his Duel Disc and watched as a card flew out from the Cemetery, straight into Yusei's hand. At the same time, another card appeared right beside it; and as the gigantic white warrior dissolved along with the mask on it, two blue portals appeared on either side of Yusei's dragon. "Come forth: Neos (DEF: 2000, LV: 7)! Black Magician (DEF: 2100, LV: 7)!"

Opening up its arms and its wings, the tall white warrior began to radiate a rainbow aura until its body dissolved into a pair of energy orbs, which exploded into columns of energy. As the card on Paradox's field shattered, said the forms of two humanoid monsters appeared at their cores, being revealed as the white alien warrior and purple-armoured magician when they burst forth.

"_Black Magician… you're returned to see this duel through to the end…" _Yugi thought to himself, watching while Yusei looked towards the two set cards that he and Judai had left behind and smiling with fufillment.

"I activate 2 set Traps Cards: Neos Spiral Force and Black Spiral Force!" Yusei then shouted, releaving both cards in a dramatic flash while the two monsters which had just been brought forth stood up and held their sceptre and fist to their air, respectively. "These trap cards activate when a Specific Monster is on the field, namely E-HERO Neos and Black Magician!"

Pointing their raised appendages to line up with the gem on the large white dragon's chest, their fired a purple and an orange burst of energy respectively and struck the green orb, causing the green aura around the dragon to expand and pulsate like flames. "Each Trap Card doubles the attack of my Shooting Star Dragon for this one turn, meaning its ATK is now 4 times its original value (ATK: 13200)!"

"It's surpassed Sin Truth Dragon's power," Hell Kaiser noted in restrained amazement, remembering the many points in his career where he had created a monster of such power. Moments later, he watched as Yusei pointed upon the yellow dragon with a fist of victory, sneering confidently as he did so.

"I'll bring you down here, Paradox!" Yusei declared, pulling back his fist as he resumed his more stoic expression. "I attack Sin Paradox Dragon with Shooting Star Dragon! Stardust Mirage!" Roaring loudly, the dragon then assumed its flight formation and began to shoot straight at the black and white dragon leaving an aura of itself as it went; however, Paradox moved his hand towards his Duel Disc and indicated the set card.

"A valiant try Yusei, but once again you've fallen flat," he stated, his uneven eyes creating an even more ominous feel. "Reverse card open: my third Sin Shackle! I'll seal Shooting Star Dragon's attack and its effects!" Once the card came into view, the look of frustration returned to Yusei's face and his dragon was struck by energy from the card, creating the mask and armour over its wings and stopping it dead in its tracks.

"Once again, you've lost the chance to stop my plan and save your precious humanity," Paradox jeered, pointing at the slowly-disintegrating skyline of the city. "At this rate you can't even save your friends!"

"I'll not stop until your insane ambition is thwarted!" Yusei retorted strongly, taking his two cards and throwing them onto the tray. "I'll set these and end my turn." With the third and fourth set card on his field, Yusei turned his attention to the last card in his hand and frowned. _"These cards can only take me so far…"_

"In your End Phase," Paradox reminded in a scolding manner and making Yusei cringe, "the effects of your Trap Cards wear off, and Shooting Star Dragon's power reverts to normal (ATK: 3300)." Watching angrily, Yusei saw his monster's aura fade back to its normal form, while Paradox reached for the top of his Deck. It's my turn!"

"Not so fast!" Yusdei yelled, flipping a set card immediately after Paradox pulled his card. "I activate Threatening Roar." Watching Paradox snarl in annoyance he then added, "Since you can't attack this turn, my Life Points are safe!" Hiding a drop of sweat flowing down the side of his face, Yusei assumed a worried pose much like that of his friends below; and at that particular sentiment, Paradox simply cast a dark and confident glare.

"Running and hiding again, Yusei?" Paradox questioned, indicating the dragon directly behind Yusei which was now bound up in its armour. "Even when the mice hide in their burrow, the snake always manages to catch and subdue its prey. I place one card face-down and end my turn."

"Then I'll draw!" Yusei declared, seeing his card as he swung his arm out all the way and gaining a look of positive surprise. _"Yes; I can finally eliminate the worst of my hand."_ "From my hand I activate the Magic Card Angel's Gift!" Pulling the top 3 cards of his Deck, he saw two Trap Cards covered up by a monster card; he then grabbed said monster and the one in his hand, and held them up for Paradox.

"I choose to discard Junk Forward and Turret Warrior." With those two cards placed into the Cemetery slot, they were pulled away as Yusei took his last two cards and shoved them onto the tray likewise. "I'll set these and end my turn." _"This is it; my rear zones are full, and if I know what he's about to do next, my combo will cut him off quickly. If I can survive this round, I have a solid chance!"_

"Then let me show you, Yusei!" Paradox declared, looking towards the sky and raising his arms to likewise indicate the swirling clouds overhead. "This… is the final turn of your existence! MY TURN!" Upon seeing the top card of his Deck, Paradox burst out into hysterical laughter, holding onto his card firmly as he indicated the glowing Dragon on Yusei's field.

"For being a thorn in my side since the beginning of my grand experiment, I'll eliminate your ace monster first, Yusei! Battle! I'll attack Shooting Star Dragon with my avatar, Sin Truth Dragon!" Responding with its low guttural roar, the dragon opened its jaws to form a red burst of energy and then launched it at the dragon, melting stray pieces of buildings caught up in the breeze as it went.

"Reverse Card Open: Shooting Star!" Yusei yelled hopefully, causing all of his friends to look on in a similar manner. "When a Stardust Dragon monster or a Synchro Monster that uses Stardust Dragon as a Synchro Material is face-up on my side of the field, I destroy one opponent's card without the opposing ability to negate it! I'll eliminate Sin Enrage!"

As Paradox watched without any specific interest in this course of action, the trap card produced a ball of energy in front of the white dragon's face, which it launched straight into the trap card face-up beside Paradox, shattering it instantly. "With that trap gone, Sin Truth Dragon returns to its original power (ATK: 5000)!"

"But even so Yusei," Paradox responded, his tone clearly enjoying Yusei's predicament, "My dragon can still reduce your Life Points to 0 in a heartbeat! If this is the best you have for stopping me, then you may as well surrender now!"

"We'll see about that," Yusei replied boldly, indicating another set card on his field. "Trap card Open: Chain Whirlwind! When a card on the field is destroyed, I destroy 2 Magic or Trap Cards in play! I choose to destroy Sin Shackle and Field Barrier!" From the tarp card then launched a pair of horizontal tornadoes that shot straight through the mentioned cards, exploding then and removing the green aura from the floating card of the Field Magic, which then disappeared.

"So you've managed to save your dragon from my shackles and free up my field card," Paradox said, this time with a touch of amusement. "But you've long since lost the chance to use Shooting Star's effect, and that leaves you wide open!"

"Then in the Damage Step, I'll activate this card!" Yusei revealed, showing a Trap card that actually made Paradox fearful and somewhat annoyed. "Behold: Synchro Baton! Once Synchro Monster I control gains 600 ATK until the End Phase for each Synchro Monster in my Cemetery; and since there are five, it gains 3000 points (ATK: 6300)!"

"Yes, it's surpassed Sin Truth Dragon's power!" Rua realized, raising his fist to the air triumphantly as the dragon's lower jaw began to glow green. A second later it fired another sonic pulse back at the opposing beast, extinguishing the red blast and heading straight back towards Paradox and his creature's face.

"How dare you fuck with me!" Paradox snapped as a card flew out from his Cemetery. "I activate my Avatar's effect: by excluding a Sin Monster from my Grave, my Avatar's destruction is negated! Be gone, Sin Black Rose Dragon!" Thus, the form of the mask-clad rose-like dragon appeared in front of the dragon's face, curling up its wings defensively before being struck by the sonic wave and exploded completely.

"You fucking bastard!" Kyojo yelled up at Paradox, flipping him off in the same moment. "How dare you do that to Kanako's spirit!" Instead of answering, Paradox simply ignored the man's angered ravings and turned his attention back to Yusei, licking his lips as he stared upon the open field before him.

"Trap Card Open: Sin Endure! When a Sin Monster I control battles with an opponent's monster with higher ATK, I gain Life Points equal to the power of my Sin Monster, and then I halve my opponent's Life Points!" With a sudden eruption of red energy at his feet, Yusei found himself screaming in pain as he felt his Life literally burnt away from his, while Paradox looked on with freshly recovered health.

Yusei: LP 125

Paradox: LP 7000

"And do not forget: I still have Sin Cyber End Dragon's attack remaining! Destroy Black Magician! Darkness Evolution Burst!" Opening all three of its mouths, the mechanical dragon then launched three bursts of black energy straight towards the crouching purple-clad magician on Yusei's field, making everybody below look on in fear.

"This is the fucking worst," Crow said, half under his breath and half out loud. "If Yusei receives this attack now, he'll take the penetration damage from the attack and he'll lose. He has no choice but to…"

"I activate Shjooting Star Dragon's effect!" Yusei declared, holding up the card again. "Stardust Disperse!" Jumping in front of the attack streams, the dragon again dissolved into green energy particles, this time forming a vortex that sucked up the attacks and left nothing behind to go rampant.

"Very well, but I still have Sin Paradox Dragon's attack remaining Yusei," Paradox reminded with a sneer as the mask-like face of his dragon cracked open to reveal its teeth. "Attack and destroy Elemental Hero Neos!" With that the flames from the dragon's mouth exploded forth and completely consumed the white warrior, leaving not even a pile of ash behind.

"And now, for the final effect of my Avatar Sin Truth Dragon to end this game," Paradox chided, a black smoke-like aura starting to form around the wings of the gigantic yellow monster. "I destroy every monster you control, and you receive 1000 points of damage for each one. May you forever be erased…"

The smoke from the monster's wings then turned into hundreds of huge black needles, each with a red glow along its outsides, that all at once began to fly towards Yusei and his monsters at a downward angle. "I activate a Trap Card: Guard Intercept! I make effect damage zero for this turn; and for every time I'm Damaged, I draw one card!"

Immediately Yusei pulled the top card of his Deck and a barrier of energy appeared in front of him; but a moment later, one of the spikes blasted straight through the magician's chest, impaling it before exploding it utterly. A few more of these spikes wedged into the rock on which Yusei was standing; and several exploded into the barrier, sending Yusei flying back to the edge on his stomach.

A second later, Yusei watched as many of the spikes simply shot into the buildings around them and exploded, causing several stories of buildings to simply collapse into dust and vanish while the dimensional decay continued. Those that remained headed towards the ground, straight towards the positions of his friends. "No… Everybody, look out!"

"Gentlemen, shall we?" Harald then stated ominously to his two cohorts, who both nodded as the gems on their pendants began to glow brightly. Each one then pulled a card out from their sleeve with one hand and their swords with the other; and as they threw their cards upwards they struck them, causing them to light up and energy to form around the group.

"Come forth: the Three Polar Gods of Asgard! Thor! Loki! Odin!" The light then transformed into three tall, transparent figures: a red-haired hulking warrior wielding a massive hammer, another red-haired being in warlock-like robes, and a white-haired being dressed as a wizard with an eye patch over its right eye and holding a long golden spear.

The three summoned creatures then crossed their arms above the group just as the spikes reached them; and the spikes thus exploded along the forms of the three Gods instead of the group below. Paradox looked down upon this sight with utter contempt, stating to the group, "You should know better than to interfere; or did you forget that the Ragnarök spelled the end for the Aesir?"

"That may be the case," Harald responded solemnly, looking back at Paradox as the forms of the Gods assumed more neutral poses. "But they fought until the end for their world; and as Disciples of the will of the Aesir, we shall fight just as long as they!" Growling at this response the blond duellist turned his attention back to Yusei, sneering as he watched Yusei again just barely standing up.

"So you've managed to dodge my attacks thus far," Paradox chided, reaching for the card in his hand from earlier as Yusei assumed a standing position. "That's alright; your end is still here. From my hand I activate an Instant Magic: Sin Cross! I select one Sin Monster in my Cemetery and revive it, disregarding Summoning Conditions! Return to my hands, Sin Stardust Dragon (ATK: 2500, LV: 8)!"

"What…?" Yusei just barely had time to gasp out, a mere second before a swirling mass of energy appeared from the card and assumed the form of the black metal-clad form of his own ace dragon, completely with the glowing red lines along its body. The creature let out a chilling and demonic roar as it glared down at Yusei, and the fear in Yusei's eyes caused Paradox to cackle even more.

"It is only fitting Yusei," Paradox said with a sadistic air of humour about him, "That the best duellist to ever face me should be destroyed by his own ace monster. BE GONE!" With that final roared command, the dragon reared back its head and blasted a beam of black energy at Yusei; and just after he crossed his arms in front of himself with a final defiant cry, the blast his him and exploded into a vertical column of smoke the size of the entire rock platform.

"YUSEI!" The entire group yelled from below, feeling helpless as Paradox burst out into a fit of laughter while the entire world around them continued to simply dissolve away…

**Card of the Chapter – Yusei**

**Shooting Star Dragon**

**WIND**

**Level: **10

**Family: **[Dragon/Synchro/Effect]

**Effect: **1 Synchro Tuner + [Stardust Dragon]

Each of the following effects can only be activated once per turn: –You can negate the activation of an effect which destroys a card(s) on the field, and destroy it. –You can reveal the top 5 cards of your Deck and then shuffle them back into the deck; this turn, this card can attack as many times as the number of Tuners revealed. –You can remove from play this face-up card to negate the attack. During the End Phase, Special Summon this card removed from play by its own effect.

**ATK/ **3300

**DEF/ **2500

*Only one chapter of this duel is left; or is it? Review if you wish.*


	6. A Destiny of Damnation

**Disclaimer**: The following piece is in no way a claim to ownership of the depicted characters. Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh R, Yu-Gi-Oh GX and Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's are owned by TV Tokyo, Konami Corporation and Kazuki Takahashi. The song with which this story shares its name is the property of Dutch Metal Band 'Within Temptation'; the name is used here solely for the poetic nature of such a reference. This story as presented is strictly for entertainment purposes, both for its owner and readers.

**Author's Note:** Woo-hoo, my first chapter of work since coming to University. It's been hard to find the time and patience to write this latest chapter, but I hope my work is of no lower quality than usual. Enjoy the final chapter of Paradox's madness…

**Chapter 6 – A Destiny of Damnation, the Nightmare Walks Again…**

"_The sounds of dripping water and people breathing raggedly as they sleep…"_ a man thought to himself, laying on his side in a cot within a prison cell while he looked over at his sleeping cellmate miserably. Through his left, hazel eye he could see the miserable oaf he was doomed to spend the remainder of his days with; as for his right eye, it was covered by his red bangs and saw nothing but black.

"_To think I used to be the head of a movement, a revolution… but now it's all over…" _Clenching his fist, the man began to growl and tried to restrain himself, making his hair shift and reveal some of the horrid scarring around his right eye. _"Thanks to the Dark Signers… No, thanks to Yuki Judai and Fudo Yusei…"_

Standing up from his cot and stepping to the bars of the door, the beige trench coat which he wore over his prison outfit fluttered behind him for a moment, while his one good eye took in the sights of the higher floors of the prison. _"Neo Domino City Correctional Facility… abbreviated, The Facility… how I hate this place…"_

"How long do you intend to sit around moping like a whiny bitch, Divine?" his cell mate suddenly asked, making the red-haired man turn to face him. Getting up and likewise walking up to the doors, he said with a smug look on his face, "I've never understood you; you walk around with the pride and machismo of a lion, like you're actually something to somebody…"

"I am somebody!" Divine retorted, the insult rippling through his body as he turned and snarled at the shorter but better-built blond man with whom he was trapped. Ever since being arrested and brought here, he had been reduced to nothing but some plaything of the inmates and guards, especially his pride."

"No, Divine… you _were_ somebody," the cell mate corrected, looking back at the man and only further aggravating him. "Back when you were the leader of some cult, a bunch of Psychics trying make a name for yourself and stick it to the man; _then_ you were a somebody. You're like the Kaiser who fails to notice that the Holy Roman Empire has collapsed around him, or who doesn't want to see it; either way, a king with neither crown nor castle is not a king; he is…"

"…Did you hear that…?" Divine suddenly interrupted in a legitimately confused and alarmed way, stopping his cell mate dead in the middle of his sentence and prompting them both to listen closely. From the bottom floor they could make out a unique sound: ragged breathing, almost like a feral creature snarling…

"Hey, what's that…?" the cell mate pointed down, to a dark corner of the lowermost floor where a dark, opaque mist began to roll in and cover the entire level, advancing up the stairs to the levels after in a progressively faster manner. By the time it reached the level Divine was on, it was moving at speeds to shame lightning; and in its wake, the horrifying sounds that followed made even Divine's stomach roll over.

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph…" the man said aloud, looking down towards the centre of the mist and being tormented by the sounds that followed. Throughout the prison he could hear the sounds of people being startled, terrified, then screaming; and the sound of flesh tearing, bones crunching, and blood being splattered; all followed by an eerie silence punctuated only by a slow heart beat.

When the sounds of the mist finally started to die away, all that remained was the heart beating; and as Divine listened intently, he could hear the heartbeat getting closer, seemingly stepping toward his exact level, his exact cell. A moment later, a black shadow in the shape of a tall, cloaked man formed in the mist, with glowing crimson eyes and the smile of a serial killer the only things visible under the hood.

Divine now gained a sense of extreme anxiety and fear, for he could hear that the ragged and demonic breathing from below coming from below the hood of this new figure. When the cell mate began to step backwards in fear, the smile of the being widened before it said in an inhumanly dark voice, "I have no dealings with you, human…"

In too little time for his mind to process, Divine watched the figure's eyes widen and glow more intensely, just before the barred door of the cell exploded into individual rods and plates. With equally horrifying speed, the bars turned on their ends and shot straight at the cell mate, impaling him through his limbs, torso and neck, and leaving no barriers between this dark being and Divine.

Staring down upon the smoke where his enemy had once stood with a demonic laugh, Paradox slipped into the lunacy of his state so completely that he barely even sounded like himself; his voice grew hoarse, almost pained, and devoid of any stability. The highlights of his eyes turning purple from the light of the crumbling world.

"The game has ended how, Fudo Yusei, and I am the victor," he declared with a sneering air of divinity, his mismatched eyes only adding to the scenario. "You put up a difficult fight, far more than I had ever expected and more than any who came before you. Sadly, you have proven as ineffective as those others…"

Looking down upon the city below and the three Aesir overshadowing the duellists, the hateful tone of his voice only increased as he added, "And with the destruction of Yusei Fudo, none of the Three Legendary Duellists stands before me to oppose my will. Now watch as your world is reduced to ash before me!"

"Except it's not that simple," Yusei's voice suddenly echoed out from the smoke, making Paradox look back in disbelief as some level of hope returned to those standing below. To their amazement, as the smoke cleared Yusei's form appeared completely intact; and though he was breathing heavily, he had stood his ground without falter.

"What kind of trick are you pulling now Yusei?" Paradox angrily snapped at him, pointing accusingly. In synergy with its master, the masked and partly-armoured version of Yusei's white dragon let out an angry snarl, releasing particles of black stardust as it did so. "My last attack should have destroyed the last of your meagre Life Points."

"When I activated Guard Intercept, its effect gave me more than the ability to dodge your attack," Yusei explained confidently, holding up a card in his hand before slotting it into the Cemetery. "It also let me draw one card from my Deck, and that card was Swift-Attacking Scarecrow."

Flashing back to the moment the attack was declared, Yusei revealed, "When my opponent declares a direct attack, I can discard this card from my hand to end the Battle Phase, sparing my Life Points." And just as Yusei had stated, the form of a wizard hat-wearing metal figure holding two y-shaped branches had appeared, arms crossed before Yusei as it took the attack, exploding but blocking all of the damage.

"That was too close for comfort," Jack criticized under his breath. "Yusei's entire ploy required him to draw exactly the card he needed through a situational and unpredictable combo… One misstep and we would all be in the depths of Hell now…"

"Unless you have forgotten, Jack Atlas," Paradox barked down, having seemingly heard that despite the distance, "you haven't been spared that fate yet. I too drew a card this turn Yusei, so I shall place it face-down." Once his last card had appeared on the tray before him, Paradox added, "In the End Phase, the monster revived with Sin Cross returns to the Graveyard. Be gone, Sin Stardust Dragon."

Folding up its arms and wings around itself, the monster let out a final growl before its entire body dissolved into black particles of light, flowing back into Paradox's Cemetery as the card did the same. "And in addition," Yusei added, "my Shooting Star Dragon who negated your attack this turn is Special Summoned (ATK: 3300, LV: 10)!"

Behind and far above Yusei formed a large swirling vortex of green gas, through which the massive white dragon appeared and took up residence behind Yusei, letting out its biomechanical scream as he reached for his final set card. "Now, I activate Stardust Mirage! During the End Phase, if I control a Stardust Dragon monster or a monster using Stardust as a Synchro Material, I revive all monsters destroyed during this turn!"

"More of your impudent stunts? Useless!" Paradox chastised as two yellow-bordered cards flew out from Yusei's Cemetery and he grabbed them in his hand. Placing them on the tray on either side of his Synchro Monster, he called up on his left the purple-clad magician with its green staff at its side (DEF: 2100, LV: 7), and on his right the white warrior with its arms crossed in a defensive stance (DEF: 2000, LV: 7).

"None of my moves are worthless Paradox," Yusei shot back angrily, the red glow over his body intensifying as the Crimson Dragon roared in the background. "For every move you make to destroy me, I shall fight back with every drop of my soul , and those of my friends; until…" As he stopped there, he reached for the top card of his Deck and closed his eyes, listening to his own heart beat as he drowned out all else.

"Draw!" Yusei suddenly shouted a moment later, opening up his eyes and snapping up his card with a fully extended arm. Looking at the card quickly, he slapped it onto the tray and declared, "I summon Mystic Piper (ATK: 0, LV: 1)!" With the card in place, it invoked a small red-clad figure in an olden-looking garb carrying a golden flute, which it immediately began to play.

"Next I activate the effect of Mystic Piper: by releasing this card, I draw 1 card and reveal it. If that card is a Level 1 Monster, I draw one more card." Pulling the card off his Duel Disc and placing it in the Cemetery, Yusei likewise erased the monster on his field before snapping up a card from his Deck and flipping it around for Paradox to see, without gazing eyes upon it himself.

"The card is Turbo Synchron", Paradox verified, to which Yusei responded by spinning the card around into his other hand and pulling a second one, this time to place into his hands. As he did so, his attention was turned to a sight on the ground below; his friends screamed as they were forced to dodge another chasm forming in the earth, while also evading pieces of the falling buildings.

"Yusei, don't you dare fucking lose focus now!" Crow yelled up as he grabbed hold of a falling Luca, hoisting her back up while Johan did likewise with Lua. "We've come way too far to let it end because you couldn't beat the clock. Jesus Christ, stop fucking worrying about us for two fucking seconds; we can handle it."

Nodding and turning back to face Paradox, Yusei slammed his new card into the tray. "I activate a Magic Card, Gift of the Weak. By excluding a Level 3 or lower monster in my hand, I draw 2 cards." Spinning the monster in his hand around, he watched it vanish by warping away before he grabbed the top of his Deck again, pulling two more cards before slotting them into his tray. "Then I set these two cards and end my turn."

"And still you rely on set cards to save you," Paradox noted in amusement, grabbing the top card of his deck and snapping it up between his middle and index fingers. The moment he saw the image on the card, his sneer grew to slasher film proportions, and he moved his hand to indicate the card below him in the air, causing it to immediately flip.

"I activate Chain Material!" he gleefully declared, watching as the card burst into light and simply disappeared. "During this turn, I may not declare an attack; instead, I may take Fusion Materials from my hand, Deck, field and Cemetery, and exclude them to use for the Fusion Summon."

Only adding to his insane delight was the revelation of the card from his hand, which he made by slamming it into a slot of the tray. "Magic Card: Sin Fusion! This card lets me Fusion Summon a very special Sin Monster indeed; and through the use of Chain Material's effect, I shall now give life to the new world order personified!"

With the activation of this card, a burst of yellow light swept through the last few cards in his Deck top to bottom before entering his Cemetery, and finally engulfing the monsters on his field. "Using Sin Paradox Dragon, Sin Truth Dragon and one or more Sin Monsters as Materials, I may Special Summon the final link in the Alchemic Chain."

"The normal Sins are representative of Negredo, the decay of matter into a more base state," Asuka recalled, envisioning one of Daitokuji's old lectures. "Paradox Dragon is Albedo, the purification. Truth Dragon is Citrinitas, the re-condensation. So this monster must be… Rubedo, the divine ascension…"

"Exactly… Now behold… Sin! GOD! DRAGON!" Paradox sneered, watching as the cards in his Cemetery all ejected and changed into orbs of neon energy, along with the two smaller dragons on his field, all of which entered into the red gem on his largest monster's stomach. With those in place, its body exploded into a vertical column of red light, obscuring the dragon's form from view, along with Paradox.

"When this monster is Fusion Summoned, its power becomes 1000 times the number of Materials used," Paradox stated from inside the pillar, his voice now sounding distorted beyond humanity. "Also, it is unaffected by any Magic, Trap of Effect Monster Effects; and if it destroys a monster by battle, my opponent's entire field is destroyed, and they lose 1000 points for every card I destroy…"

"This is Paradox's attempt to ascend to Godhood…" Harald stated solemnly, his eyes narrowing as the column of energy burst into a purple-black galaxy pattern, extending down into the chasms in the ground and upwards into the ruined future in the sky. From the column, four massive wings each larger than the yellow dragon had been extended outwards in an x-shape, the bottom two inverted, and slowly folded around towards Yusei.

While Paradox's demonic laughter echoed in the background, the wings closed around Yusei and shrouded him in darkness. The ground below the duel began to fissure and rupture even more in its wake, causing entire buildings to sink into the earth while lava began to overflow from the crevices. As the group watched the chaos escalating, they could only fear for their future, and each others' fates…

"Wha-wha-what the _fuck _are you…?" Divine asked in complete terror, his knees becoming weak as he stepped backwards and fell to his knees just before the wall. It was then that he could see the cells across the building; all that was visible were corpses stuck like pigs on the iron bars, blood pouring out of them and overflowing the balconies.

"Is that any way to address the very being who will give you everything you desire…?" the entity asked, his smile becoming less prominent but his voice sounding no less disturbing. Stepping into the cell and standing directly in front of Divine, he looked down upon what was once the great leader of the Arcadia Movement and chuckled darkly. "Or are you so prideful as to deny that of yourself…?"

"What did you just say…?" Divine asked softly, tears of fear now streaming down the sides of his face as the sound of his cell mate's blood dripping onto the floor became louder and more prominent. "How do you… how do you know of the desires in my heart…?"

"My dear Divine, I was around when you first created your organization…" the being answered, the fog around the prison starting to disappear save for a persistent pool around the being's feet. "I'll forgive you for not remembering me; after all, I looked and sounded much different when we last met…"

"So… I know who you are…?" Divine asked aloud, standing up and seeing that the being was at least 6'2" tall or so under his hood. From this angle, he could also see that the being had a very dark pair of sunglasses underneath the cloak, though still not enough to block out the glow of his eyes; and he could also make out the fringes of white hair, pale skin and a racing suit-like neck. "No, that can't be; I'd remember somebody as wicked as you. What is your name?"

"My name?" the being asked with chuckle, holding up his hand in surprise as he replied. "Such a foolish question, Divine, but one I will answer regardless. The truth is that I have worn many faces, held many names, in the span of time for which I have existed; each a personal all its own, each tailored to the master which I am destined to serve…"

"Master…?" Divine questioned, suddenly gaining a renewed sense of passion and fervour from what he was being told by this man. "You mean to tell me… that you can give me back my power, help me rebuilt the Arcadia Movement anew, even topple Yliaster…?" When the being nodded submissively to the entire proposal, Divine asked, "then why are you being so willing? What do you stand to gain from all this?"

"My dear Divine, what I seek is to experience the carnage of war…" the being stated in a matter-of-fact way, though the weight of his words still chilled Divine to the bone. "I wish to lead brigades to slaughter countless miserable humans and salt the earth with the overflowing deluges of blood… I wish to see those who dare call themselves masters of this world suffer in purgatory and burn in hell for eternity… I wish to see all those who wronged me before torn to pieces both physically _and_ psychologically, until nothing remains which would oppose us… and you Divine, you can give me all of that…"

"_What is this man…?"_ Divine thought in a stern and surprised tone, though he quickly discovered the though fading from his mind as he stared into the glow of the being's eyes. He could see visions of himself as leader of Arcadia again, as a world leader, in the reflection of those glowing eyes; and the fearful scowl on his face melted into a prideful sneer. "Then I shall accept your terms… even should I need sell my soul, I shall become a great leader once again…"

"Sell your soul…?" the being asked, holding up his right hand before grabbing a hold of Divine's head with his left. "Then I shall write our pact in stone, since you are so eager…" With a slow motion, the being drew his arm all the way back and held his fingers together, forming a spear-like formation while the dark smile on his face grew.

A second later, the figure plunged his hand straight towards Divine's face, stopping just in front of his right eye. In a quick flash his hand and Divine's eye burst into flames, the latter screaming in pain as he felt the heat sear into his flesh. In a few seconds it was done and the figure pulled his hand away; but Divine could feel the pain of his eye burning, and could tell that something had changed.

Holding up his right hand for Divine to see, the figure revealed that the flames had made a sigil of scar tissue on his hand, one composed of a ring of runic symbols housing a pentagram. In the shine on the figure's eye, Divine could make out the reflection of his own eye, where the same sigil now sat where his pupil once was.

"With this I have become your servant, your undying guide to the great power you seek," the being spoke, turning around to leave with Divine ready in toe. "When you have made your way to the summits you seek, out pact expires… and with that, I shall claim your soul as collateral. Do we have an understanding?"

"If that is the price to regain my power and status," Divine stated with a sneer, "Then I shall accept it…" Turning away from the being before him, he began to step out of the cell and shifted towards the hallway, but before going any further he turned his head back towards his new 'servant'. "You said that you have known many names. What was the last one you knew…?"

"The last name I held?" the figure questioned, then chuckled as though reflecting on some fond childhood memory. "When last I entered this world, I made a contract with a man distraught over the loss of someone he cared for, and emerged to solve those wrongs in his life. Back then, I was known as… Tsukikage."

"Tsukikage, eh?" Divine questioned, putting his hand to his chin and pondering the name with a confident and amused smile on his face. "Yes, I quite like that name, indeed; how fitting it is, now that I may use you to eclipse the unending sun of Yliaster's reign, and drown out the light of the stars what are the Signers… Now come, there is much to be done…"

Yusei awoke to find himself floating in the purple cosmic void, stars twinkling around him but no sound anywhere. Looking left, right, up and down, he felt himself chasing the strange feeling that someone of something was around him, and that whatever it was held an aura of great destructiveness. The very thought of what had happened to bring him here made his very soul tremble.

Then, as suddenly as he had found himself there, he saw appear before him the form of Earth, rapidly moving towards him; but its entire form was surrounded by a bright white light, one that drowned out the images of the land and water below. As he watched in amazement he fell into the planet's atmosphere, sinking through the blinding veil to behold the horror which had transpired below.

Almost all that which had once been of earth's greatest cities was now a mass of ruins, almost stripped down to their cores and devoid of any signs of human life. The forms of thousands, millions of Machine Emperors swarmed city streets, those few remaining human soldiers fighting to topple them with any weapons at their disposal. Both sides volleyed artillery in increasing amounts, and on both sides the explosions claimed casualty after casualty.

Then, Yusei watched in horror as the forms of the Machine Emperors began to glow an iridescent green, letting out a ringing hum for several seconds before they produced a massive explosion. The individual blasts came together into an energy blast do massive and powerful that it laid waste to the ground, reducing anything that remained of the civilizations in its path to ash, along with those human soldiers in its path.

"No… NO!" Yusei screamed, trying to reach down towards the planet but finding that it was too late. By the time the light faded, there was nothing left but the barren, scorched rock he had seen in Paradox's world. He knew immediately that this was what had happened to his world; and as he looked up to the skies above, stained the sulphuric red of Mars, he knew that this world was completely un-survivable.

"This is the result of humanity's efforts to better itself…?" Yusei questioned, his voice sinking deeper and deeper into despair as he again thought of his father, and the experiments he had conducted with Momentum 17 years prior. However, in a moment's clarity, he looked up to the heavens with angry eyes and declared, "No…! I won't accept this outcome! I will save humanity and its future, no matter what the cost is! Crimson Dragon, I beseech thee… how can I prevent this undoing?"

Seemingly in answer to his cries, Yusei heard the sound of the Crimson Dragon's roar from behind him, along with the sound of a beating heart growing louder and louder. With a rapid turn, he saw before him the seal of the Dragon floating in the sky, with a symbol repeatedly flashing in the centre of the loop in rhythm with that heartbeat… a symbol that itself resembled a heart, that eventually formed completely.

In a burst of red, the seal exploded outwards into the snaking form of the Crimson Dragon, roaring as it extended into the sky and unfurled its wings completely. It cast so much light upon Yusei that he was nearly blinded, covering his eyes as he say its form change into something larger, with four wings and a humanoid frame…

Eventually, the light grew so bright that he disappeared completely from his surroundings in it; and when it died down again, he found himself at the centre of that purple galaxy again. "That's it. The Crimson Dragon has shown me the path to saving this world; and I must act now…" Watching intently, he saw his Duel Disc appear on his arm and the images of his cards form around him; and with that, he extended out his arm towards one set item.

"Paradox, I cannot let you win. Now today, not ever! Counter Trap: God's Declaration! By paying half my Life Points, I negate the activation of your Magic Card and destroy it!" Transforming into a white beacon of light, the card exploded upwards and cut straight through the galaxy, tearing it away to reveal the sky of Neo Domino City as the form of paradox's creation slowly receded and vanished.

Yusei: LP 62

Paradox: LP 7000

"You insolent little bastard!" Paradox roared in completely primal fury, returning to view as the forms of his three dragons reappeared from the vanishing matrix. From below, the group watched as the ground slowly began to close off again, and the lava overflow receded into the cracks of the earth. "How dare you stop me from fulfilling my destiny!"

"Paradox, I have seen your world and the misery it brought..." Yusei responded, this time not in anger but in a deeper, even-tempered understanding, catching the former off guard and actually making him pause. "I understand your pain; you tried to harden yourself into a machine to escape it, but deep down you're a scared and frightened human trying to find salvation."

"You think because you've seen my world you understand the agony of losing everything around you?" Paradox questioned, half-enraged and half-psychotic while he growled at Yusei. "You couldn't possibly imagine what I have endured, and I shall never let you deny my destiny. Not your Life Points are less than a mere hundred; and in my next turn, my monsters will destroy any hope you have of escaping this fate… And even if you could, you'll run out of time in anything more than one turn…"

"_He's right… If I can't draw a card that will let me end this duel in my victory here, then it's all over for our world regardless of the outcome…"_ Yusei thought to himself, reaching down for his Deck and again closing his eyes. Within his own mind he envisioned himself reaching for the card atop his deck, only for two other hands to overlap his own.

Looking up and to his sides, he was surprised to see Yugi's form on his left and Judai's on his right, standing there with confident smiles on their faces. "You didn't think we'd let you bear the burden alone did you?" Judai questioned, smiling at the black-haired duellist as he gave him a thumbs-up with his free hand.

"We helped and supported each other to get this far, working as a team," Yugi then added, giving the same smile to Yusei, "and now we shall all finish this duel in the name of justice… For everything that ever way…" Nodding, Yusei grabbed hold of the card atop his Deck tightly and yanked the card with all his soul; and when his eyes snapped open, he gazed upon the image of the Magic card in his hand.

With this in place, he envisioned in his mind a stream of energy flowing from his drawn magic Card to a Synchro Monster, then to Shooting Star Dragon, a Trap Card, and finally to his two partners' monsters. _"This is it… the end of Paradox's scheme…"_ "I change Black Magician and Neos to attack position ((ATK: 2500) x2)!" In a single instant, both monster's cards disappeared from under them and they rose into fighting stances, Paradox looked on in smug determination.

"You must have given up all hope Yusei," Paradox realized, looking back at Yusei with steely eyes. "Switching those two weak monsters to attack mode does nothing but accentuate your coming demise… Why don't you just surrender now and die with peace, rather than endure the agony of failure…"

"Because today, paradox, there is no failure," Yusei responded, slamming the card he had drawn onto the tray. "From my hand I activate a Magic Card, Stardust Sparkle! By selecting one Dragon-Type Synchro Monster in my Cemetery and excluding monsters who total levels equal its, I Special Summon that monster!"

Reaching for his Cemetery slot, Yusei watched as two cards from his Cemetery slid out, followed by a third; he then held them all to the sky in a splayed formation. "Be excluding Road Warrior and Speed Warrior from my Cemetery…" he explained, those two card vanishing while he slammed the third onto the tray, "Return to me, Saviour Star Dragon (ATK: 3800, LV: 10)!"

In a burst of light from behind Yusei, the massive four wings of his bluish glowing dragon reappeared, followed by the massive dragon's entire form. Though easily larger than either of Paradox's two weaker monsters, its size was still less than that of the golden monster; however, it still looked up at Paradox and let out its battle cry, followed by those of Yusei's other three monsters.

"Next I activate my Trap Card: Synchro Stream! When there are two or more face-up Synchro Monsters on my side of the field with the same type, I can have one gain the attack strength of the other. Through this effect, Shooting Star Dragon's attack increases by the 3800 points pf Saviour Star (ATK: 7100)!"

"An attack of over 7000?" Paradox questioned in enraged disbelief, before staring Yusei down and gaining a sense of Yusei's perception. "However, your attack score means nothing against Truth Dragon's effect; I will simply negate its destruction as many time as it takes…"

"Then be prepared to do that plenty of times, because I activate Shooting Star Dragon's effect, and reveal my top 5 cards!" snapping up a handful of cards from atop his Deck, he spun them around to Paradox and revealed a total of 3 Tuner Monsters – Nitro Synchron, Quick Synchron and Junk Synchron – before placing them back into the Deck Zone to be shuffled.

"Only 3 Attacks? That's useless," Paradox chastised with a dark sneer as Yusei's Dragon split into three copies of itself: one with a red aura, one yellow, and one blue. "You can't deal me lethal damage with 3 attacks on Truth Dragon, and after this turn it's all over…"

"Then I'll make every attack count!" Yusei said, pointing towards Paradox's spot atop his Dragon. "I attack Sin Truth Dragon! Stardust Mirage!" Roaring, the red-aura dragon curled up into its jet-like formation and shot straight towards the dragon's head, at which point the ghostly form of the corrupted white dragon from earlier appeared.

"I activate the effect of Sin Truth Dragon, and by excluding Sin Stardust from my Cemetery I negate the destruction of my Dragon this one time!" With a final defiant scream the masked monster charged at the oncoming monster and struck it head-on, exploding immediately while only the shockwave continued on towards Paradox. When it his him, he covered his face with his hands but did not seem to lose and nerve.

Yusei: LP 62

Paradox: LP 4900

"Now for the final moment of truth," Yusei declared, pointing to the sky while his other large dragon rose high above the enemy, body in a cross-like formation until reaching its summit. "By releasing this monster, I negate the activation of an opponent's Magic, Trap or Monster effect, and destroy that card! Stardust Force!"

Letting out a hideous scream, the four-winged dragon released a burst of blue energy from its body before completely exploding; the beams of light from it formed four of the same dragon, all shooting down from the ski in their comet-like striking position towards Paradox's side of the field.

"You're wasting your time again, Yusei!" Paradox yelled, reaching for his Cemetery again. "I exclude Sin Armed Dragon from my Cemetery and negate the destruction of my Truth Dragon!" With that the ghostly form of the masked armoured dragon formed in front of one of the oncoming gigantic dragons, which sliced through it before continuing on past them all. Two other dragons then hit the respective monsters on either side of Paradox; but the fourth one seemed to be shooting for mid-air.

"Perhaps you've forgotten, Paradox," Yusei said, holding up his thumb while the blond duellist responded in confusion. "With Field Barrier gone, nothing is preventing the destruction of Sin World; and without your Field Magic card, your Sin Monsters are all destroyed. Checkmate." With this final declaration paradox let out a defiant scream as Yusei turned his thumb down, watching as the form of the field's card appeared and was them exploded by the dragon ramming it.

As all four of the dragons came together on the other side and rose higher and higher into the sky, green circuit lines began to appear along the yellow dragon's body as the form of the field began to chip like glass, eventually causing pieces of it to shatter off and fall towards the ground, revealing Neo Domino City's real form underneath.

"No, my great work is almost complete!" Paradox declared in rage as small explosions began to occur along the dragon beneath him. "I was within minutes of saving this world from humanity's tyranny and evil; I've come too far to lose it all now!" As these words were said, pieces of the dragon affected by the blasts began to shatter and fall to the earth, dissolving into dust as they did so while the explosions occurred.

"You forgot one important factor, Paradox," Yusei responded, while the latter of the two snarled back at him. "Without humanity, there would be nobody to enjoy that future…" Finally, raising his hand and pointing at Paradox, the raven duellist yelled out, "This is it! Black Magician, Elemental Hero Neos… Direct Attack!"

"I WILL NOT BE DENIED!" Paradox screamed as a final defiant outburst while the two fighters rose towards him with lightning speed, the former pointing its staff with magical energy forming on the end while the latter's fist gained an aura of orange energy. When both bursts of energy were released, an explosion erupted atop the dragon's head that completely reduced it to rubble, leaving the rest of the body to crumble into nothingness.

As he fell towards the ground, Paradox reached his hand up towards the vision of his world, as through trying to grasp his home world one last time. "Everyone, I'm so sorry…" he said under his breath in a defeated-sounding voice, which started to become static-sounding. "I fear that now our world may be lost forever…"

"_No, there is still a way Paradox…"_ a deep, sympathetic voice issued from the back of his mind, making him gasp softly at its presence. _'The future of this world is not yet lost to us; for there is another path to take for its reclamation. Return to me, Paradox, my old friend, and let us right the wrongs of our history…"_

"That… that voice…" Paradox stated, his eyes starting to fall shut as his voiced grew softer and softer. "So familiar… Somebody… I once knew…" With these final muttered realizations, Paradox's body exploded just as his dragon's had, the cards from his Duel Disc scattering everywhere before dissolving into nothingness.

As the platforms of stone likewise began to crumble with the duel over, the form of the four-winged dragon shot back down from the heavens with unfathomable speed, sweeping up Yugi and Yusei within its body. With them gone, the Crimson Dragon flowed into the body of Yusei's other dragon, giving it a glowing red aura and yellow eyes while it ascended into the centre of the portal between eras.

On the centre of that vortex, the dragon's chest crystal began to glow red and created a strange vacuum-like pulse; then, the outlines of the ground where it had been disintegrated glowed in yellow and then flowed into the sky light inverted lightning, leaving the completed streets intact. The same then occurred with the dissolving buildings, whose forms began to return; and the edges of the time vortex, replacing them with normal sky.

Letting out a roar that was a mix of the Crimson Dragon and its vessel, the monster began to take these dozens of energy streams into its body through that orb, causing its aura to grow larger and more intense. This went on for close to a minute until the energy streams concluded, their sources having been entirely restored, and the dragon thus curled its body into what became a sphere of red light.

In an instant, the red sphere discharged all its energy downwards into the Arc Cradle, like a current drawn to a lightning rod, bombarding the structure with energy levels enough to destroy cities. Jose and Lucciano watched from the apex in a position helpless to escape as their entire bodies shorted out in an instant, their cloaks dissolving as they fell. The energy then formed an aura around the citadel, which in the following moment seeped into its walls and vanished.

As the four-winged blue dragon descended towards the ground, the forms of the three Norse Gods faded into their respective aura colours and dissolved away, leaving room for the massive Demigod to come within feet of landing. Dissolving in midair, it left behind Yusei and Yugi standing in the empty streets; the combined seal on Yusei's back then vanished, with the respective marks returning to their owners' arms.

The group then made a quick run towards the two returning heroes, stopping only when they were right in the faces of the two. While Yugi showed a reserved smile of victory, Yusei's face held only a pained and exhausted look of sadness, even as Jack broke the silence with, "You did it, you two. Paradox's campaign of lunacy has at last reached its end."

"You're giving me too much credit," Yugi responded, scratching the back of his head as the taller, blond man extended out his right hand. Yugi immediately moved his hand to grab it and shake it, before looking up at Jack and saying to him, "It's Yusei who made all of this happen; the honour belongs to him."

"Nonsense, King of Duellists," Hell Kaiser responded, stepping up beside Jack along with Kyojo and Aki. "You had just as big a hand in this; as did…" However, Kaiser stopped himself short of saying anything further, realizing as everybody grew slightly more saddened in expression what he had just narrowly avoided.

Stepping out from the three men, Aki walked up to Yusei's face and put her left hand on his shoulder, which did nothing to alleviate his quiet expression. When that failed, she put her other hand to his cheek and kissed his lips lightly, which only resulted un Yusei gently pushing her away and turning off to the side. "Don't touch me…" he said, in a voice which reflected inner anger but was too weak and un-spirited to show it.

Stepping away from the group a few more paces, tears slowly began to roll down Yusei's face, the man unable to hide his great sorrow from the crowd. "Yusei, this isn't your fault at all," Crow responded, approaching his friend calmly and as supportively as he knew how. "There was nothing you could have done to stop any of this from happening… Just let it go…"

In a single instant, almost too fast for anyone to register, Yusei's eyes turned from a look of sadness to utter rage; and in an act unforeseen by anyone, he spun his torso around and drove his fist into Crow's cheek. The redhead went flying back on the ground, blood coming from his nose as Yusei looked into the man's eyes, unable to control himself.

"Do you not get it at all, the guilt I feel right now Crow?" Yusei half-yelled, half-whimpered with a voice so full of raw emotion he could barely enunciate. "Judai sacrificed his life to save me, his LIFE Crow! Don't you DARE tell me to let go of one of the best friends I ever knew! If it weren't for me… If it weren't for me he would still be here!"

"Stop it right now, Yusei!" Asuka yelled, running forth from the group and stopping in front of Yusei, where she tried to grab Yusei's arms to hold him still and prevent further violence. "Judai was a friend to us all. We loved him; _I_ loved him…" Letting tears fall down her own face, the blond woman then added, "I know how painful it is to lose someone who meant so much to you, but none of this is your fault so you need to stop this…"

"You think you know how I feel?" Yusei questioned, shoving Asuka to his right and causing her to fall onto her side. Kaiser, infuriated by the treatment of his wife, ran at Yusei and punched him square in the centre of the face. Jack and Kyojo immediately grabbed and restrained the man while Kenzan and O'Brien went to Asuka and Crow. When Yusei turned back to Hell Kaiser and tried to rush him, Kiryu likewise jumped out and restrained his friend, who continued to struggle against him.

"This is about more than just what happened to Judai! Don't you see that?" Yusei yelled out belligerently, sinking further into his emotional breakdown and continuing to fight against the man holding him back from Kaiser. "Paradox told me everything, showed me everything! Everything he did is because of my father!"

When everybody's response was to look on in stunned silence, Jack and Kyojo finally let go of Kaiser, who in turn simply stood their panting from his efforts to break free. Kiryu did the same with Yusei, Yururiha stepped forward and asked, "He blamed Professor Fudo and the Momentum Project for the destruction of his world?

Yusei simply nodded at the question he's been asked, wiping away his tears before continuing to explain. "Paradox told me that centuries after our time, his world became engulfed in a war where the Machine Emperors were Momentum-powered machines of death, machines that ultimately exploded. Anybody not killed in the blasts succumbed when the fallout covered the world in radiation."

"Momentum radiation? You're sure that's what he told you?" Kyojo questioned, he and Yusuriha both picking up immediately on these words and comparing them to what Paradox had said. When Yusei responded with a nod, the man looked back and then replied, "That's not what he told us."

"What are you talking about?" Yusei then questioned, immediately thereafter realizing that there must have been a confrontation with Paradox at the Old Momentum reactor before everything had happened. "He told you where he came from and what had happened to him? What did he tell you that's so different?"

"He stated that his world was completely overrun by some kind of virus released as a bio-weapon," Yusuriha explained, everybody in the group taking note of the difference. "But even stranger, he claimed that his world existed millennia after ours, not centuries. That's a huge change in his story for somebody trying so hard to convince us."

"Except I don't think it was a lie back then," Kyojo added, stroking his chin while he considered what had just been said. "The way he spoke back in that complex, he was in a complete emotional abyss, even willing to lose his own life to escape. Just now though, he seemed different; not so much depressed as… unstable…"

"During one part of the duel, Judai kept comparing him to Placido, and that really seemed to irritate him," Yugi commented, immediately getting the instant attention of the whole group. "It got even worse when Paradox came out as a machine, another android like they were… he got worse from there at an increasing rate, until he completely lost it…"

"If this Paradox was an android, then somebody had to have made him," Aki deduced, reflecting on when they had been told about the Emperors of Yliaster. "The difference in the stories plus the reactivity to being compared to Placido… is it possible he didn't even know before now?" This suggestion immediately stung into the minds of the group for how odd it sounded, but the more they thought of it the more it made sense.

"Whoever made the Paradox shell programmed with false memories and an artificial personality to use it to some end…" Yusei reasoned, thinking about what everyone had been told. "If he made the body himself as a dying effort, he would never have done something like that… Which means somebody else built it for him. He must have found out about his real history, and he lost it when he realized he's been used. But who…?"

Yusei's words were immediately drowned out when a loud noise echoed across the city and heavy winds picked up, forcing the group to anchor themselves down tightly and watch the sky for any indications of what was coming. A few moments later, the forms of two Apache helicopters came into view from between two skyscrapers followed by a personnel carrying copter.

To the group's amazement, the three vehicles landed less than a hundred feet from them, the doors on the largest one opening up as the rotors started to halt. From them immediately appeared six armed soldiers in uniform, carrying assault rifles in a standby formation. "Those are United States Marine Corps," Kyojo informed the others, stating it almost as a memory as opposed to simple background information.

A mere few seconds after the troops deployed, a tall, brown-haired man in a commanding officer's uniform emerged from the helicopter and moved to the front of the troops, which then marched towards the group and stopped directly in front of them. When the soldiers assumed a straight formation and saluted the gang, with Kyojo giving a salute himself almost instinctually. "It's been a long time since I've seen you around Gunny," the CO addressed to him in English, with the rest of the group looking at him for an explanation.

"After the affair with Maenou I went back to my home in the United States for a while, and signed up for the Marines," he informed the others, taking off his sunglasses and pocketing them as a sign of respect. "Managed to get myself the rank of Gunnery Sergeant before I got contacted by Judai." Turning back to the CO, Kyojo himself stiffened his posture and said, "Sir, reporting for duty, Sir!"

"At ease Gunny," the Marine responded to Kyojo, who immediately relaxed a little before addressing Yusei directly – and surprisingly enough, he did so in Japanese that seemed practiced to the point of being educated in the tongue, although his accent bled through. "Name's Colonel Dean Winchester, at your service Mr. Fudo. Gunny Ryukishi here has told me about you and your significance; in fact, it's through him I can speak your language."

"Wait, my significance?" Yusei questioned, receiving a knowing nod from the Colonel and then immediately asking, Why exactly are you here? I've never seen the foreign military involved in something like this, let alone from a country like the United States…"

"Actually, we were sent here on assignment after that Riding Roid incident by orders of our President," the Colonel clarified, looking around at the scrap of broken D-Wheels and the aforementioned robots. "There were American citizens listed among participating WRGP contestants, after all; but en route we were given a new assignment by the UN."

Immediately after saying this, the six troops all stepped out of formation and formed a circle around the entire group, before Colonel Winchester added to Yusei, "We have been informed that a powerful organization exists for which you are the best hope of stopping them; and as such, you have all been declared persons of international top-level importance, to be placed under our supervision until otherwise stated."

"You're talking about Yliaster aren't you?" Jack questioned, to which the Colonel replied with a very definite nod. "They're a hugely powerful political group with ties to almost every major country in the world; but why is a military agency dealing with them? The Arcadia uprising I could understand, but this…?"

"We have reason to believe that Arcadia's sudden and unexpected military stance several months ago was provoked by figures of importance within Yliaster, who threatened the survival of those psychic duellists. Under Rex Godwin's governance and with Divine at the Movement's helm they gave the impression of being relatively safe; but based on Divine's attacking your group during the Dark Signer invasion, something must have changed that."

"I used to be a member of Arcadia," Aki informed the Colonel, who immediately gave her his full attention. " I remember Divine talking about the information he had against Godwin, but I also remember him hinting that Godwin was a puppet; whoever was pulling the strings he didn't have power over, and they were starting to put pressure on us."

"After Divine's defeat at your hands and his incarceration, what was left of Arcadia was trampled underfoot by political pressure from Yliaster, driving their forces underground. With their largest thorn in their side now gone, Yliaster was free to do whatever it wanted without being scrutinized. These brash attacks on the Signers represent what they are willing to do to accomplish their goals, whatever those may be; our assignment is to protect the only people who can actually fight then, you all…:

"A very admirable mission statement Yank," Harald replied in English, he and his two cohorts slightly grinning while he addressed the Colonel. "However, you're a few hours too late; the assignment already fell into our hands, and unlike you we didn't have personal matters to attend to beforehand."

"It figures the Nordic Kingdom would try and make this a political pissing contest," one of the soldiers muttered under his breath, causing Brave to turn around and face him with a less-than-amused expression on his face. Before anything could be made of it both Harald and the Colonel gave warning glares to their respective underlings, who immediately looked away from each other.

"We are not adverse to performing this mission jointly," Winchester offered, extending his hand to the Norwegian knight. "After all, our nations are allies and we've been given the same task. If your government wishes for you to carry out this mission then you may join us; but be warned, you'll be aboard an American vessel, and will have to conform to our regulations."

"We will respect your rules as long as your deep south friends here," Dragan started, pointing around to all of the soldiers as well as Kyojo, "keep it in their mind to respect our Odinist roots, and keep their psycho-Christian heathen speeches to themselves. We've had more than a few lifetimes' worth of harassment by fanatics like you…"

Immediately turning back towards Dragan, the soldier from a moment before grabbed his gun by the end of the barrel and poised to swing it into the knight like a club; but before he could do so, Kyojo whistled and addressed the rogue recruit. "Corporal, stand down now! That is a direct order!" Glaring angrily at the duellist, the soldier looked prepared to make a reply but instead did not, and begrudgingly returned his weapon to his side. "That is no way for a Marine to behave, soldier."

"You should show more restraint as well Dragan," Harald responded, in a much calmer voice than had been used by Kyojo. "The days of religious tension between Christian and Pagan have become things of the past; it's politics that determine allegiance these days, and our nations are strongly united in that regard." Turning back to the Colonel he then added, "We will respect your rules so long as you respect our religion. Is this fair?"

"Indeed," Colonel Winchester replied, before looking back to the group and then to his soldiers. "Right, time's wasting men! Let's move!" Turning back t face the helicopter, the soldiers began to march towards the parked personnel carrier, forcing Yusei and his group to do the same. With the Odinist knights and Kyojo at the head with the Colonel, Yusei sank to the rear, trying to put more pieces of the puzzle together from what he saw in his own visions.

"_The Crimson Dragon showed me something inside that void Paradox created, something I've seen nothing like before… what was that sixth mark about, that other strange dragon…? What is Paradox's connection to all of this, or Yliaster's for that matter?"_ He was then interrupted by the feeling of Aki's hand on his shoulder, whom he turned towards with an apologetic look on his face.

"You don't need to say anything Yusei," the red-haired girl told her boyfriend pre-emptively, sensing exactly what he intended to say. "I know how much it affects you when things involve your father, and Judai's loss is hard on us all… But know that I'm here for you, as is everyone in this group. So Yusei… what do we do now?"

As Yusei stepped into the helicopter and took a seat, Aki on his left side and Jack on his right, he turned back to his girlfriend and told her, "We go after what's left of Yliaster. That bolt of energy looked like it fried their giant floating citadel just now, so I'm guessing the Emperors are pretty well toast…

However, Yusei soon discovered how premature his words were; as the helicopter doors closed and the rotors started up, a rumbling noise from over Neo Domino City caught the attention of everyone in the cabin. Looking up into the sky, they saw outlines of neon rainbow energy form along crevices of the fortress, as though some ancient system had come back online. _"So, it's not over yet…"_

Within the central chamber of the Arc Cradle, the lifeless forms of Jose and Lucciano suddenly appeared on the floor, damaged and charred from the energy blast which had rocked the structure moments earlier. However, lines of their respective energies – blue for Lucciano and orange for Jose – started to form in matrix patterns along their bodies, causing pieces of their damage structures to slowly revert themselves to normal.

"There is no time to be wasted now that this phase of the plan has been reached," Ylaidus' voice echoed throughout the chamber, the lines of energy outside the building coursing strongly along the walls. Within seconds the two Emperors' bodies were fully restored, including their cloaks; and they the awoke from their unconscious state, only to assume a loyal kneel as the Deity spoke.

"My brother the Crimson Dragon seems to have thought that such energy would have rendered the Arc Cradle inoperable; but he underestimates my abilities, and those of my great servants. Thanks to him, this divine fortress now has the energy to come online once again, for the first time in millennia…"

"Then the plan is to continue even in the absence of so many crucial pieces?" Jose questioned, completely obedient but at the same time questioning of such a course of action. "Now that Yusei has mastered the skill Dark Glass showed him, and Placido is no longer at our side, we are at a severe disadvantage. He has become a powerful opponent."

"The most powerful of opponents often make the best pawns; for their antagonism to your goals make them consistent, and predictable. Paradox proved such a fact by producing the energy spike that culminated in our greatest weapon's reactivation, and it was Yusei's battle with him that produced the energy necessary to do so.

"Now it is time for us to play our next hand. With their recent turning over to the United States Marines, they will be preoccupied with seeking out our lesser members, believing their greatest threats to be gone. They will think that gives them plenty of time to stop anything further. But they are wrong…"

Without warning, the tube containing Placido's body turned into a green tube of light, blindingly bright to any human; but the Emperors could see very clearly a silhouette standing at its centre. A second later the tank exploded, and when the light cleared Placido's form took a step down from the tank's platform, leaving one foot there and one on the floor.

Placido's form had been greatly changed by the restoration process, almost to the point where he looked like a different person. His hair now extended halfway down his back, though that atop his head held the same pattern as before. He was now easily Alessandro's height, a half-foot taller than he had been previously; and The armour on his shoulders was now elongated and sharper, with more ornate boots and gauntlets.

But perhaps the most apparent change was to Placido's right face, where the melding of flesh and metal was incomplete. The flesh now stretched onto the edges of the metal plate like veins, almost fusing into the metal itself in a grotesque way. The underside of the scar now resembled the mark extending down from his left eye, and the red optic was more sophisticated and eye-like. Still, the combination gave him the same cyborg appearance, even more disturbing than before.

"Inform all the Dukes and earls of Yliaster of a summit at the Bermuda Triangle in two days' time," the resurrected Emperor mandated, his sly smile present as ever. A new eye piece materialized into his hand from some particles of floating energy, before he placed it over his bionic eye. "Tell them that the hour of Gnosis draws near."

"Then you have received orders from Ylaidus himself…?" Jose questioned, Placido looking back at him with an unmoving glare that told him everything. Standing back up along with Lucciano, the tallest Emperor replied, "Then so it is decreed; the Enlightenment shall sort those worthy of a greater spiritual plane from those too corrupt. May salvation come to those who are worthy…"

Deep within the levels of the Arc Cradle, Alessandro stood in a sweating mess on weak legs, looking at the ceiling of the structure as he spoke to himself. "Bommer, dear brother… I'm finally reaching the goal we set out for all those years ago; it's within my grasp now." Stretching out his hand towards the ceiling, he grabbed at the air as a red aura began to form around his body.

"I had thought on the day Placido rescued me from the hell of the Underworld that this dream would come true sooner, until I was made a servant to his fanaticism…" Growing pained and frustrated, he grabbed onto the sides of his head and started to growl as he spoke, shutting his eyes while the energy aura around him grew to a flaming cloud of energy.

"But now, that's all about to change. That energy, whatever it was, has awakened something within me; it has changed me, and for the better… What Zone said is right. I and I alone hold the tools necessary to change my ruined destiny, and restore my dream. And now I shall do just that… With my own bare hand!"

Releasing his hands and tensing the muscles in his body, Alessandro let out a long, pained scream while a dark red glow began to emanate from between the halves of his eyelids. From there it drew out two lines from each eye: one heading straight down and then curving in just towards his chin, the other out to the sides and up onto his temples.

As his agony increased, the individual dreadlocks of his hair came undone, and all of his hair became a single mass flapping as though in the breeze. When it finally stopped and he opened his eyes, the sclerae were dyed black and the irises a glowing crimson, with his highlights died the same colour. "Now…" he finally said, his voice hoarse and dark, "…now I shall create a new destiny…"

**Card of the Chapter – Yusei**

**Stardust Sparkle**

**Normal Magic**

**Effect: **Activate by targeting 1 Dragon-Type Synchro Monster in your Cemetery. Exclude other monster cards from your cemetery whose total levels equal that of the target monster, and Special Summon that target.

*A long and twisted journey lies ahead for the cast, in the next and final story of the Crossover Canon. Review if you wish.*


End file.
